Smarties Prize

Debut novelist Philip Reeve has received the 2002 Nestle Smarties Book Prize Gold Award in the nine to 11 age category for Mortal Engines (Scholastic, 2001). The fantasy novel is set in a world where entire cities are on the move, consuming and attacking each other. Judge Emily Smith praised it as an "epic book" that tackles large concepts, including class division and war. Winners of the annual prize, sponsored by the UK-based charity Booktrust, were announced December 3, 2002.