The 2019 Inky Awards longlists were announced March 4 – the Gold Inky for Australian titles, and the Silver Inky for international titles. The award recognizes achievement in young adult literature, with nominees and winners selected by voters under the age of 20.
Works of genre interest include Hive by A.J. Betts, Ice Wolves by Amie Kaufman, Lifel1k3 by Jay Kristoff, Whisper by Lynette Noni, Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi, The Cruel Prince by Holly Black, The Belles by Dhonielle Clayton, Between the Blade and the Heart by Amanda Hocking, Scythe by Neal Shusterman, and Navigating the Stars by Maria V. Snyder
Gold Inky Award – Australian Titles
- Hive by A. J. Betts
- A Thousand Perfect Notes by C.G. Drews
- I Am Out With Lanterns by Emily Gale
- Amelia Westlake by Erin Gough
- Ice Wolves by Amie Kaufman
- The Art of Taxidermy by Sharon Kernot
- Lifel1k3 by Jay Kristoff
- White Night by Ellie Marney
- Whisper by Lynette Noni
- After the Lights Go Out by Lili Wilkinson
Silver Inky Award – International Titles
- The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo
- Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi
- What if It’s Us by Becky Albertalli and Adam Silvera
- The Cruel Prince by Holly Black
- The Belles by Dhonielle Clayton
- Between the Blade and the Heart by Amanda Hocking
- I Was Born for This by Alice Oseman
- The Astonishing Colour of After by Emily X.R. Pan
- Scythe by Neal Shusterman
- Navigating the Stars by Maria V. Snyder
Is it just me, or are the Australian titles consistently better designed than the non-Australian ones?
I don’t know if the Silver Inky longlist titles have the same covers as on non-Australian editions or if those are Australian-designed editions.
But I suspect there’s some law in Australia that says foreign YA books can’t have blue covers.
It’s a theory, anyway.