Wirral Paperback of the Year Award

Wirral Paperback of the Year has been taking place since 1995. It is organised by Wirral Schools Library Service in conjunction with many secondary schools from the Wirral.

The idea behind the award is to give pupils from Years 8 and 9 a chance to read new and exciting fiction and have their voices and opinions on these books heard by other pupils and members of staff.

Fifteen titles published in the previous twelve months are chosen to form a long list for the award. The Schools Library Service then sends copies of the fifteen books to each of the schools taking part during the Autumn Term.

Each school then compiles its own shortlist. Using these, a “Wirral Paperback of the Year” short list is compiled of the most popular books from the original fifteen.

Representatives from each school are then invited to meet in July to discuss and vote for the overall winner of “Wirral Paperback of the Year”.

The Schools Library Service invites various authors included in the long and short lists to attend voting meetings and to talk to pupils about their books when possible.

Visiting authors in the past have included; Paul Dowswell, Marcus Sedgwick, Marie-Louise Jensen and 2011 Winner Keren David.