A Triumph for Children’s Literature
The Waterstones Book of the Year for 2024 was awarded to Berkshire-born author Ross Montgomery for his heartwarming tale, “I Am Rebel.” This prestigious award, voted for by Waterstones booksellers, places Montgomery among an illustrious list of previous winners including Philip Pullman, Maggie O’Farrell, and Charlie Mackesy.
About “I Am Rebel”
“I Am Rebel” is a charming story about the unbreakable bond between a dog and his boy. With its tenacious canine hero, the book has quickly become a modern classic, beloved by both children and adults. It was Waterstones’ bestselling Children’s Book of the Month in over two years.
Q&A with Ross Montgomery
On Winning the Award
Q: Congratulations on winning Waterstones Book of the Year. How does it feel?
A: I’m still in disbelief! “I Am Rebel” is my 30th book, and it’s amazing to see it get so much love after 11 years of writing. I believe passionately that the best way to bring children back to books is to show them what books can do: entertain them, take them on a journey, and show them what makes the world magic.
The Writing Process
Q: When writing “I Am Rebel,” did it feel like you were creating something that would be embraced by so many?
A: Absolutely not – it was a bit of an experiment for me. I wanted to create a character and follow it, inspired by Philip Pullman’s idea that the greatest challenge for a writer is to make something simple and tell it well.
Q: What can you tell us about the story?
A: The story is told from the POV of Rebel – a loving, kind, but not very smart dog who lives on a farm with his 12-year-old owner, Tom. When Tom runs away to join a rebellion, Rebel must leave the farm for the first time to bring him home.
Inspiration and Background
Q: Where do your ideas for stories tend to come from?
A: It’s usually a combination of different seeds planted around the same time. For “I Am Rebel,” I was inspired by books like “Kidnapped” by Robert Louis Stevenson and “The Letter For The King” by Tonke Dragt.
Q: Judging by some of your work, I presume animals are an important part of your life?
A: I think animals speak to children in a way that people often don’t. There’s a kinship between them, as both children and animals have limited power in their respective worlds.
Writing Career
Q: When did you think you could make a career out of this?
A: It took five years before I decided to write full-time. Before that, I was a primary school teacher writing in my free time. It’s very difficult to write full-time, so I always recommend finding free time to write around a job.
Q: How did it feel when “Alex, The Dog and The Unopenable Door” took off?
A: It came from nowhere – after four months, it had only sold about 190 copies. Then it got shortlisted for the Costa Award, which helped get my name out there and convinced my publisher to keep me on.
Writing Style and Future Projects
Q: Do you feel there is a real Ross Montgomery style now?
A: I like to write books that are very readable – adventures with heart and humor, and stuff that’s really weird.
Q: What comes next for you?
A: My next children’s book, “Small Wonder,” is out next year. It’s a fantasy adventure about a boy racing across a kingdom to save his baby brother. I also have my first adult book coming out with Viking: “A Murder At World’s End,” a golden-age locked-room murder mystery.
