The jury of the world’s most renowned children’s and youth literature prize motivated their choice by calling Sonya Hartnett one of the major forces for renewal in modern young adult fiction.

Born 1968 in Melbourne, the author made her publishing debut at the age of 15 and has been credited as one of the authors charting a new course for teen fiction.

The prize, which was created in 2003 in honour of Sweden’s favourite author Astrid Lindgren and to promote youth literature around the world, is worth over 800,000 dollars.

Source: By Sveriges Radio 2008