The ‘Carnegie shadowers’ have been reading and reviewing the books since Easter, all in their own free time. On this day they were in mixed school groups, and devised a 3-minute dramatic presentation about their favourite book, which they later performed in front of a panel of judges. The judges, who were from the worlds of publishing, book selling and education, had to decide which presentation would convince them to read that book. They also read a selection of reviews, and selected the best book reviews. Prizes for Best presentation, Best group contributor and Best book reviews were awarded. The students also voted for the Abingdon Carnegie winning book and shared a Carnegie cake.
The winning book, by an overwhelming majority, was Wonder by R. J. Palacio. It seems to have become a tradition that the Abingdon Carnegie Forum vote is at odds with the official judges, who announced the following day that the winner of the Carnegie Medal, was Maggot Moon by Sally Gardner.
