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Cross Pen Prize for Young Adult Fiction
Subcategory of Victorian Premier's Literary Awards
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Latest Winners / Recipients

Year: 2000

winner y separately published work icon Killing Aurora Helen Barnes , Ringwood : Penguin , 1999 Z272000 1999 single work novel young adult satire

'Web is nine parts flesh, one part sulphur. And she's on a mission to save Aurora. But Aurora, the incredible shrinking girl, is already Death's best friend, and slips through Web's fingers like water. It's a bizarre love triangle, where there really are monsters under the bed. And not only can imaginary things hurt you, they can kill you.

'Volatile, original and blackly funny - Killing Aurora asks the question: does violence ever get you anywhere? The answer: well, sometimes ....'

Source: Publisher's blurb (audio version).

Year: 1999

winner y separately published work icon Deadly, Unna? Phillip Gwynne , Ringwood : Penguin , 1998 Z517608 1998 single work novel young adult (taught in 20 units)

'"Deadly, unna?" He was always saying that. All the Nungas did, but Dumby more than any of them. Dumby Red and Blacky don't have a lot in common. Dumby's the star of the footy team, he's got a killer smile and the knack with girls, and he's a Nunga. Blacky's a gutless wonder, needs braces, never knows what to say, and he's white. But they're friends... and it could be deadly, unna? This gutsy novel, set in a small coastal town in South Australia is a rites-of-passage story about two boys confronting the depth of racism that exists all around them.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

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