Nero book Awards Category Shortlists Announced – Books For Keeps
The category shortlists for the 2025 Nero Book Awards have been announced, including the Children’s Fiction shortlist.
From hundreds of submissions, this year’s Children’s Fiction judges, author Sharna Jackson, The Telegraph children’s literary critic and author Emily Bearn and Waterstones Children’s Campaign Manager Nick Campbell, have chosen four to shortlist.
They are:
My Soul, A Shining Tree by Jamila Gavin (Farshore)
People Like Stars by Patrice Lawrence (Scholastic)
Dragonborn by Struan Murray (Puffin)
Shrapnel Boys by Jenny Pearson (Usborne)
Now in their third year, the Nero Book Awards are the only set of multi-category awards open exclusively to writers based in the UK and Ireland and are run as not for profit by independent, family-owned coffee house group Caffè Nero, in partnership with The Booksellers Association and Brunel University of London. Last year’s winner was Liz Hyder with The Twelve and the inaugural Nero Book Award Children’s Fiction went to Beth Lincoln for her novel The Swifts.
The category winners in all four categories, Fiction, Non-Fiction, Debut Fiction and Children’s Fiction, will be announced on Tuesday 13 January 2026, with one book then taking the Nero Gold Prize, Book of the Year, on Tuesday 4 March at a ceremony in London. Find lists of the shortlists in the other three categories here.
Gerry Ford, Founder and CEO of Caffè Nero, commented, ‘I’m hugely impressed by the quality of the books in this year’s shortlists. It really showcases the talent and quality of writing across the country. I know the judges found each category very strong and selecting the shortlists took a lot of debate. When I set up these Awards it was to celebrate great writing and great books to read and to showcase books which you would recommend to friends, family and people you know. This list more than does that. This is the strongest list of books the Nero Book Awards has seen yet and is indicative of the Awards going from strength to strength.’
