First Term at Fernside

Sheena Wilkinson's first novel, Taking Flight, was Children’s Books Ireland's Editor's Choice for 14+ in their Bookfest Recommended Reads 2010, one of The Irish Times' Children’s Books of the Year 2011, and won two Bisto Children’s Book of the Year Awards: the Children’s Choice Award and the Honour Award for Fiction. It was shortlisted for the Reading Association of Ireland awards, featured in the International Youth Library's White Ravens catalogue and features on the 2012 IBBY Honour List. Sheena was one of the inaugural recipients of the Northern Ireland Arts Council’s Artists Career Enhancement Scheme awards. Since winning the Brian Moore Award in 2006 with her very first story, Sheena Wilkinson has won many awards for short fiction, including the Riptide International Award for young adult fiction. Her story 'Constance' came third in the Fish International Short Story Prize, chosen by author David Mitchell. Grounded, the sequel to Taking Flight, was published in 2012.