The Children's Book Council of Australia's Shadow Judging Book of the Year Awards program is back! Young voices from across Australia are invited to join the conversation about the books on the annual CBCA Book of the Year Shortlist and choose their own winners. Creating a group of 'shadowers' is a powerful way to connect young readers with the shortlisted books in a safe space where their opinions and responses can be heard.
The City of Darwin Libraries is hosting their first ever Shadow Judging group this year, for ages 13-18. We are planning to read the shortlist for the Older Readers category, which may be fiction, drama or poetry and appropriate in style and content for readers in their secondary years of schooling.
We will host several after-school meetings from March to July, where we will make sure everyone has access to the six books in the Older Readers shortlist, discuss the books and judge them against the official criteria, create Creative Responses if we want, and finally vote collaboratively to nominate our winner for Older Readers 2025!
All you need to join is enthusiasm and a love for reading!
Interested? Register through Eventbrite and we'll be in touch.
For more details about Shadow Judging, visit CBCA Shadow Judging.
