Teacher Claire wins prize for top teen book

Claire McFall has been named the winner of the first Scottish Teenage Book Prize for her third novel, Black Cairn Point.

She beat off competition from Keith Gray’s The Last Soldier and Silver Skin by Joan Lennon and will receive £3,000. Keith and Joan will receive £500 each.

The prize has been set up to celebrate the most popular teen books by Scottish authors and is run by Scottish Book Trust with support from Creative Scotland.

Black Cairn Point, published by Hot Key Books, is an atmospheric thriller which explores what happens when an ancient malevolent spirit is reawakened and is set in Dumfries and Galloway.

The win follows the signing of a film contract for Claire’s first novel, Ferryman in China.

The Borders-based English teacher said: “It’s a brilliant award that encourages young people around Scotland to read books about and from their country and their culture.

“Silver Skin and The Last Soldier are both terrific books so to know that readers chose my novel is an enormous compliment.”