Once again our reading group stepped up to the plate to read the challenging Carnegie Medal short list for 2013, widely regarded as the gold standard of the children’s book world. This year we were invited to Rougemont School to take part in a discussion about the books short listed, each student delivered a short presentation to put forward their case for the title that they felt should win the coveted prize.

As always the short list consisted of incredible stories with powerful narratives that held us captivated. Family death, facial disfigurement, genocide, and the devastating aftermath of the 2010 Haiti earthquake were some of the themes we encountered, difficult subjects all beautifully written about, and it was with some difficulty that we eventually chose ‘Wonder’ By R. J Palacio as the groups’ favourite.