2019 Inky Awards Shortlist

Voted for by young people, The Inky Awards first made an appearance in 2007 and have been going strong since. Recognising the best YA literature from Australian and international authors they empower young readers and give them a chance to have their say when it comes to what they value as readers.

How it works: A teen alumni is elected each year and they select from all books a longlist list of 10 Australian books and 10 international books from books submitted. These books reflect the quality and diversity of current young adult literature. According to the Inky Awards website, books are selected on the basis of their originality, quality, readability, voice, character, age-appropriateness and something else that you can’t put your finger on, but you know it when you see it.

These 20 books are then read by a panel of teen judges, who choose 5 Australian, 5 international books for the shortlist. From this, anyone aged 12-19 can vote for their favourite – The Australian book with the most votes receives the Gold Inky Award and a cash prize, and the international book with the most votes wins the Silver Inky Award.

The short list has just been announced and the following titles have been chosen:

Gold Inky Award

Hive by A. J. Betts
A Thousand Perfect Notes by C. G. Drews
Amelia Westlake by Erin Gough
Whisper by Lynette Noni
After the Lights Go Out by Lili Wilkinson

Silver Inky Award

The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo
The Cruel Princeby Holly Black
The Belles by Dhonielle Clayton
The Astonishing Colour of After by Emily X. R. Pan
Scythe by Neal Shusterman

The Inky Awards website is a great place to find out more information not only about these books but also about lots of other book/awards related content. You can hear directly from some of the teen judges on the Inky Award blog here and for teachers and librarians there is a resource page that you can use with your students here.

Voting closes in August and the winners will be announced in September so make sure you and your teens get voting for your favourite and support this wonderful initiative. Vote here.