This book was commended by the British Library Association and won the Smarties Book Prize for 1998 however. There were some problems with this, because people were buying it direct from Amazon.com UK, thus annoying Scholastic, who had purchased the rights to distribute it in the U.S. Unfortunately, it probably won't win the Newbery award, since that is awarded to the author who has made the most distinguished contribution to children's literature in America. Name this book, which although a 'children's' title; is currently number 8 on the New York Times BestSeller list.
