In case you missed it, I announced the winner of the 2009 Guardian Children's Fiction Prize on Thursday.  (I won it last year and was a judge this year).  The winner is Mal Peet's Exposure, which is a great book you should all read.  The party was fun, too.

Welcome to the new commenters (David (who eventually decided it wasn't boring), the Wilks Cousins (who said the right things) and Sara (not for a while yet, Sara, sorry)).  Also, please know I won't generally approve comments that contain spoilers that can't be edited out.  So, very sorry, Esperanza (and I'm afraid the answer's no).

Meanwhile, I'm going up north for a big chunk of this week for school and bookstore visits.  The public is more than welcome to come to a few book signings, though, so just to repeat: I'll be at the Preston branch of Borders Books on Tuesday, 13 October, at 5pm (call 01772 703856 for info) and at the Waterstone's in Nottingham on Wednesday 14th October at 3.30pm (1-5 Bridlesmith Gate, Nottingham, NG1 2GR. Tel 0115 948 4499) for more details.  Hope to see you there.