We're delighted to tell you that last night Patrick Ness won the Guardian children's fiction prize!
His book The Knife of Never Letting Go was up against tough competition including Jenny Downham's Before I Die, Frank Cottrell Boyce's Cosmic and Siobhan Dowd's Bog Child.
The judging panel – who described Patrick's book as 'breathtaking' – was made up of children's authors Mary Hoffman, Mal Peet and last year's winner, Jenny Valentine, as well as Julia Eccleshare, Guardian children's books editor. This prestigious prize is the only children's book award judged by children's authors and has been running since 1967.
Huge congratulations to Patrick!
Find out more about The Knife of Never Letting Go.
Read a Q&A with Patrick.
Learn more about the award here at the Guardian website.