Patrice Lawrence has been named the UK's 14th children's laureate, a role that positions her to address the crisis of teenage masculinity and declining reading rates among boys. Lawrence, best known for her bestselling young-adult novel Orangeboy, succeeds Frank Cottrell-Boyce in the two-year tenure.
A Laureate for Vulnerable Children
Lawrence has pledged to prioritize the most vulnerable children during her term. Her own experience—spending her first four years fostered by a white family—informs her commitment. She aims to reflect the real challenges children face, from grief and fear to blended families and mental health.
In 2017, the Carnegie medal longlist sparked outrage for lacking minority ethnic authors, despite nominations for Malorie Blackman and Lawrence. No writer of color had ever won the prize. Nearly a decade later, Lawrence's appointment marks a significant milestone.
Addressing Teenage Masculinity
Lawrence's novel Orangeboy follows 16-year-old Marlon navigating drugs and violence. She stated, "I wanted to write lovely young men of colour. I wanted to explore what makes lovely people do not very nice things." The book speaks to current anxieties about boyhood, echoed in the TV series Adolescence and the play Physical Education in Swansea.
Statistics show teenage boys are the least likely to read for pleasure. Lawrence's focus on social realism and diverse characters aims to engage this demographic.
Inspirations and Legacy
Lawrence cites former laureates Malorie Blackman and Jacqueline Wilson as inspirations. Both have highlighted the lack of black authors and working-class families in children's fiction. Lawrence continues this tradition, blending social realism with fantasy, as in her Elemental Detectives series set in mythical 17th-century London.
Outgoing laureate Frank Cottrell-Boyce campaigned on shared early reading. Lawrence faces the greater challenge of engaging teenage boys. While diversity in publishing has improved since Black Lives Matter, representation in children's books has recently declined.
In the preface to Orangeboy's 10th anniversary edition, Lawrence writes: "I hope that I’ve encouraged children and young people who may never have felt seen to understand that their lives and their stories are valued and important." Now she has a larger platform to reach them.
