Stubbornness Took Quirky Author to Victory

Stubbornness Took Quirky Author to Victory: Nz Book Awards for Children And Young Adults

Ten years of hard work, a truckload of stubborness and a sympathetic press helped take fledgling author Julie Lamb to victory at the NZ Book Awards for Children and Young Adults. The Discombobulated Life of Summer Rain won Lamb the brand-new Best First Book Award at the glittering awards event in Wellington last night. It is published by up-and-coming Wellington publisher Mākaro Press.

Lamb said she wrote the book ten years ago and finished it nine years ago. 'There's a lot to be said for not giving up,' she said. 'I always believed in it - I just needed to learn how to write it properly. A huge thank you to Mākaro Press who helped me write it properly. They believed in it – they got me and they got the book and they encouraged it all the way.' She finished her speech: 'I'm as stubborn as anything and I got there in the end.'

Awards judge Sarah Forster praised the 'delightfully whacky' novel for all it offered its 8-13-year-old readers. 'The winner of this category brought a improbable number of characters to life on the page,' she said. 'The protagonist was curious, wise and strong – everything that we want our kids to be.'

She said the judges hoped that The Discombobulated Life of Summer Rainmarked the beginning of a long career in children's writing.

Mākaro Press publisher Paul Stewart, who attended the awards ceremony with Julie Lamb, says a second novel of Julie's is already going through the editing process. 'Julie is a force of nature. She's got talent and a unique voice, and she works really hard. This is not the last New Zealand readers will see of this fantastic author.'

Paul also paid tribute to Mākaro Press' children's and YA editor, Anna Golden, who had worked closely with Julie over two years to get the book ready for publication.

ENDS

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