We’re so pleased to see that Us in the Before and After by Jenny Valentine and The Boy I Love by William Hussey have been longlisted for the 2026 UKLA Book Awards.

The UKLA Book Awards are the only national children’s book awards judged by teachers. The Book Awards seek to celebrate children’s books in order to promote the place of books for young people in all educational settings, and to encourage teachers in their knowledge of the high-quality children’s books that can reflect all identities and promote diversity being published every year. The books selected for the Awards each year are titles that teachers can share with pupils as part of regular classroom experiences, whether that be Reading for Pleasure or extended projects focusing on the text.

This year 85 judges are covering the four categories: 3-6+, 7-10+, 11-14+ and  Information Books 3-14+. The shortlists will be announced in late March 2026 and you can find more information on the full longlist here.