Waterstones has named 16-year-old climate activist Greta Thunberg ‘Author of the Year’ for her book No One Is Too Small To Make A Difference.
The book is a collection of Thunberg’s speeches, described by Waterstones as spreading an “urgent message”. Waterstones added that “Greta Thunberg’s speeches have been an inspiration to millions”.
The bookshop chain has in the past granted an award to the book of the year, but this year they added the author of the year prize. Waterstones said the additional accolade for author of the year reflects “how strongly the titles resonated with our booksellers and customers“.
The 2019 winner of book of the year is Charlie Mackesy’s The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse, which tells the illustrated, hand-written story of the friendship between a boy and three animals.
Some of the other titles making it onto the shortlist include Margaret Atwood’s The Testaments, Queenie by Candice Carty-Williams, The Binding by Bridget Collins, Underland by Robert Macfarlane, and Lanny by Max Porter.
Greta Thunberg has not commented on her award. She recently rejected the Nordic Council environmental award along with the prize money because “the climate movement does not need any more awards”. She thanked the Nordic Council and said that it was a “great honour” to be offered such an award, but felt she could not accept it.
It is unclear whether she will accept Waterstones’ accolade.
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