The HA's Young Quills Historical Fiction competition is held annually, both to recognise good historical fiction writing and to encourage youngsters to develop a love of history and a feel for the period they are studying. The Young Quills is unique in that it is the readers – young people – who decide the shortlist.

This year a total of 32 books were submitted for review by our young readers at 23 schools, who between them submitted a magnificent total of over 360 reviews across 3 age categories (6-10, 11-13 and 14+). Their views were taken into account by the shortlisting panel (though some adult judgement about historical content also influenced the final selection). Of the 32 books submitted, 15 made it through to the shortlist. 

Young Quills Winners 2019

We can now announce that the 3 winners are:

• 6–10 years category: Janina Ramirez for Riddle of the Runes (Oxford University Press) 
• 11–13 years category: Pippa Goodhart for The Great Sea Dragon Discovery (Catnip Publishers)
• 14 years and above category: Elizabeth Wein for Firebird (Barrington Stoke)

Find out more about the winning entries and authors

The reviews

Click on any book title below to to read what our young reviewers thought of each book. There’s a wonderful range of opinions and it’s clear that some of these young reviewers went to a great deal of effort in setting out what they liked and disliked about the books. For reasons of confidentiality and safeguarding, we have only given the first name of the reviewing child or young person.