A supernatural story by author Anthony Horowitz has been named by Lancashire schoolchildren as this year's top read.
Raven's Gate, set across the Pennines in Yorkshire, took the Lancashire Children's Book of the Year title - the county's literary answer to the Oscars.
The competition, run by Lancashire County Library and Information Service, involved young readers from across the county selecting their shortlist from 116 titles.
Currently celebrating its 20th year, Lancashire's Children's Book of the Year is one of the country's longest running children's book competitions.
The first winner of the award was Phillip Pullman, the highly acclaimed author of His Dark Materials, back in 1987.
Jean Wolstenholme, manager of young people's services for Lancashire County Library and Information Service, said: "We are delighted Anthony Horowitz is the winner of this year's coveted 20th anniversary award.
"Many readers will be familiar with Anthony's Alex Rider series, which hits the big-screen this July with the release of Stormbreaker.
"It's a huge vote of confidence from the target audience that Raven's Gate, the first novel in his new series has won this award.
"We look forward to welcoming Anthony back to Lancashire to receive the award".
Last year's competition was won by Jonathan Stroud for The Amulet of Samarkand.
Jonathan visited County Hall to meet the young people and personally receive his award.
A similar invitation has been extended to this year's winner.
This year's shortlisted titles were:
Wolf Brother by Michelle Paver
Checkmate by Malorie Blackman
Roxy's Baby by Catherine Macphail
Raven's Gate by Anthony Horowitz
Be In The Place by Helen Hobden
Epic by Conor Kostick
Lord Loss by Darren Shan
Ark Angel by Anthony Horowitz
The Spook's Curse by Joseph Delaney
Tessa in Love by Kate Le Vann
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