Kevin Brooks (writer)

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Kevin Brooks
Born (1959-03-30) 30 March 1959 (age 65)
Pinhoe, Exeter, England
OccupationWriter
NationalityBritish
Period2002–present
GenreYoung adult fiction
Notable worksMartyn Pig
The Bunker Diary
Notable awardsCarnegie Medal
2013

Kevin M. Brooks (born 30 March 1959) is an English writer. He is best known for young adult novels. His The Bunker Diary, published by Penguin Books in 2013, won the annual Carnegie Medal as the best new book for children or young adults published in the UK. It was a controversial selection by the British librarians.[1][2][3][4]

Early life, family and education[edit]

Brooks was born in Pinhoe on the outskirts of Exeter in southwest England, the second of three brothers.[5][6]

At age 11, he won a scholarship to Exeter School,[7] where he felt estranged from the other pupils from better-off families and took solace in fiction.[6] He subsequently studied psychology and philosophy at Aston University in Birmingham.[8] His father died when he was 20.[6]

Career[edit]

Brooks's debut novel Martyn Pig was published in 2003 by Chicken House, where it was edited by the founder of the company Barry Cunningham, OBE. They won the next Branford Boase Award "for authors and their editors", which annually recognises an outstanding British novel for young people by a first-time novelist.[9][10]

By a wide margin his work most widely held in WorldCat libraries is the 2009 novel Killing God (titled Dawn in North America).[11] The title character Dawn "contemplates killing God, whom she blames for her father's disappearance". OCLC 301947727 "When Dawn's dad found God, it was the worst time ever. He thought he'd found the answer to everything. But that wasn't the end of it." OCLC 458727901

With A Dance of Ghosts in 2011, Brooks began a series of adult private detective thrillers set in a fictional English city.

Novels[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Celebrating the Carnegie and Greenaway Winners: Carnegie Winner 2014". carnegiegreenaway.org.uk. The Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals and Carnegie Kate Greenaway Children's Book Awards. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 1 July 2014.
  2. ^ "'Children Don't Need Happy Endings' say winners of UK's most prestigious children's book awards". carnegiegreenaway.org.uk (Press release). The Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals and Carnegie Kate Greenaway Children's Book Awards. 23 June 2014. Archived from the original on 9 July 2014. Retrieved 1 July 2014.
  3. ^ "The Bunker Diary wins children's book prize". BBC. 23 June 2014. Retrieved 30 June 2014.
  4. ^ Flood, Alison (24 June 2014). "Carnegie medal under fire after 'vile and dangerous' Bunker Diary wins". The Guardian. Retrieved 30 June 2014.
  5. ^ "Award winning Exeter author Kevin Brooks donates cash prize to Pinhoe library". Express & Echo. Exeter. 30 June 2014. Archived from the original on 14 July 2014. Retrieved 30 June 2014.
  6. ^ a b c Rabinovitch, Dina (28 April 2004). "Author of the month: Kevin Brooks". The Guardian.
  7. ^ "The Bunker Diary: Exeter author Kevin Brooks wins children's book prize". Express & Echo. 23 June 2014. Archived from the original on 14 July 2014.
  8. ^ "Kevin Brooks". Goodreads.com. Retrieved 30 June 2014.
  9. ^ a b "Previous Winners". branfordboaseaward.org.uk. The Branford Boase Award. Archived from the original on 2 March 2019. Retrieved 1 July 2014. The Award is made annually to the most promising book for seven-year-olds and upwards by a first time novelist
  10. ^ "About Us". doublecluck.com. Chicken House. Archived from the original on 10 August 2014. Retrieved 1 July 2014.
  11. ^ "Brooks, Kevin". WorldCat.org. Retrieved 1 July 2014.

External links[edit]

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