Sevenoaks author Jemma Hatt scoops two awards for her debut children’s novel
Children’s author Jemma Hatt from Sevenoaks won two book awards recently for her debut novel.
Jemma Hatt with her award-winning book The Adventurers and the Cursed Castle and follow-up The Adventurers and the Temple of Treasure
The Adventurers and the Cursed Castle was announced as the winner of the 2020 Children’s Selfies Award during an online ceremony, with a prize of £1,000.
The judging panel was made up of Jill Coleman, director of children’s books at BookTrust, author Ken Wilson-Max, and Moon Lane Ink CIC bookseller Meera Ghanshamdas.
Plus, The Adventurers and the Cursed Castle won the top prize Gold Award in the Wishing Shelf Book Awards, in the books for ages 9-12 category.
The award was judged by children across six primary and secondary schools and was announced last month.
The first book in The Adventurers Series follows cousins Lara and Rufus, their Border collie Barney and friend Tom in a hunt for ancient Egyptian treasure hidden in Cornwall’s Kexley Castle.
“It’s an absolute honour to win two very different awards,” said Jemma, “one judged by industry professionals and the other by young readers. Publishing The Adventurers Series has been one of the greatest adventures of my life so far and it has been wonderful to receive such amazing recognition and support. I’m also grateful to the many local children who have read my books!
Jemma Hatt in WHSmith Bluewater earlier this year with young reader Cassie Munn-Wood
“I’m very fortunate to have worked with my cover designer Andrew Smith who has illustrated beautiful covers for all three books in the series so far, and with my editor Amanda Horan who helps polish my story ideas into the best that they can be.”
Since becoming a published author, Jemma has run local writing workshops for children, as well as holding a book signing event at WHSmith in Bluewater. The Adventurers and the Cursed Castle and its sequel The Adventurers and the Temple of Treasure are available now. The third instalment in the series, The Adventurers and the City of Secrets, was also released last month.
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