Written by Mr Weighall
The celebrations for the 2026 National Year of Reading continued this month with what is sure to be remembered as one of the highlights of year. On Tuesday 7th July, members of our JTHS Book Club headed up to the RAF Museum Cosford for the annual Staffordshire Young Teen Fiction awards ceremony. Each year Staffordshire Libraries choose a selection of novels that showcase the best in children’s and teenage literature from the past twelve months. The nominations are read by school children from across Staffordshire County, before votes are cast to decide the region’s favourite. This years’ nominations included Jennifer Lynn Barnes’ gritty crime-thriller ‘The Lovely and the Lost’, and the witty YA rom-com ‘Red Flags’ by Sophie Jo.
The ceremony brought together schools from across the region to meet with the public library teams and renowned authors. This years’ special guests included Ross Welford (author of the best-selling ‘Time Travelling with a Hamster’) and last years’ YFT award winner A.J. Clack. Both writers delivered a presentation to a packed auditorium, revealing their inspirations and writing processes. Students had the opportunity to ask questions and have their books signed by the authors, all in the grand surroundings of the magnificent Cold War hanger building of the museum.
The highlight of the day came when John Taylor High School’s very own Pearl Knight-Dutton (Year 11) was brought up to the stage as a guest speaker. Pearl is currently the Staffordshire Young Poet Laureate and has participated in numerous events for Staffordshire Libraries during her tenure. Those present in the auditorium appeared genuinely inspired by the reading of her own works, including a poem written especially for the event, ‘Read to the Beat’.
The event concluded with the announcement of this years’ YTF award winner, American sci-fi fantasy writer Scott Reintgen’s ‘The Last Dragon on Mars’. Our students thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to celebrate reading and storytelling, and we look forward to participating in next years’ scheme.
