Andaleeb Wajib, winner of the 2024 Neev Book Award
By Porter Anderson, Editor-in-Chief | @Porter_Anderson
The Author Behind Amazon Originals’ ‘Dil Dosti Dilemma’
More news from world publishing’s many book contests: In Bengaluru, the 2024 Neev Book Award has gone to Penguin Random House India author Andaleeb Wajid for her children’s book The Henna Start-Up.
One of the imprints of CEO Gaurav Shrinagesh’s PRH India is Duckbill, and it’s under that division that the book is published at 272 pages as “a romance about a young tech girl with big ambitions set in Bangalore.
The winning author, chosen from a shortlist of eight titles, has published Many novels (some reports say 14, others say 45), including a YA title, When She Went Away, which was shortlisted for the Hindu Young World GoodBooks Award in 2017.
She also has range beyond the children’s book market, with a graphic horror piece published by HarperCollins India titled Scare Walk.
There’s also a title highlighted in media messaging about the award, Everything Sucks from Talking Cub.
And the Amazon Originals seven-episode series Dil Dosti Dilemma, released on Prime in April, is an adaptation of her 2016 release from Penguin Random House India, Asmara’s Summer.
The Neev Book Award for distinguished children’s literature is intended “to recognize outstanding writing that leads to a fuller understanding of India, Indian lives, and Indian stories.”
Established in 2018, it’s part of a two-day children’s literature festival focused on promoting high-quality children’s literature from India, an effort to raise awareness both nationally and in internationally markets about original, distinguished children’s literature from India and the diaspora.
A poster for the Amazon Original ‘Dil, dosti Dilemma,’ based on Andaleeb Wajid’s ‘Asmara’s Summer’
This year, the Neev award was handed to Wajid for the single title across all age categories, with a cash purse of 300,000 Indian rupees (US$3,572). Wajid also was given a trophy and a citation.
Special interest in this program looks for young readers’ books that don’t shy from challenging realities of life, stories that, as organizers say, “build empathy and resilience, explore conflict, negotiate identity, and inspire future changemakers.”
Shortlisted authors for the award receive 100,00o rupees each (US$1,190). In an interesting twist, 50,000 of those rupees actually go to a shortlisted author, while the remaining half of the shortlistee purse goes to a book promotion tour.
And as it turns out, Wajid’s winning book is written in first person, the lead character, Abir, being “unapologetically ambitious, angry, and with an attitude. The story is said to follow Abir’s creation of a clever way to use technology to be sure her mother is paid correctly for her work.
More from Publishing Perspectives on children’s books is here, more on the world industry’s seemingly countless book and publishing awards programs is here, and more on the Indian book business is here.