The annual Portsmouth Book Award Celebration event followed on from the Discussion and Voting that took place in April, when the shortlist of books,which reflected some of the best fiction published in the last year, was whittled down to the final three novels by the pupil judges. The 2019 Celebration event took place on 12th June at Action Stations, when the winning author was finally announced. Participating pupils had the opportunity to meet the winning author, and in addition, school librarians were required to nominate one pupil from their team of judges to be considered for the accolade of secondary school 'Reading Champion'. The School Library Service award this jointly to one boy and one girl who are keen readers of fiction, who enjoy using school and public libraries and who are good reading role models, sharing their enthusiasm with others and encouraging them to read for pleasure. Megan Bartlett satisfied all of the required criteria, as she is always willing to help and encourage other pupils with recommendations from the wide range of books that she has read - currently 236 books from Springfield Library alone! She is an exemplary borrower, always returning her books on time and in good condition. It was a pleasure to nominate her for this prestigious award, particularly as she had been nominated by her previous school in Year 6. Although she didn't win on that occasion, it highlighted the fact that her interest in reading has continued consistently from primary to secondary school. This time, her reading achievements gained her the title, generating much excitement among the Springfield team! Megan enjoyed the experience of judging for the Portsmouth Book Award and was delighted to discover that the overall winner was 'Boy 87' by Ele Fountain, who was there in person to receive the award and to meet the pupils and sign copies of her book.

Mrs Williams, School Librarian