Veteran novelist named as medal winner

<h4>Veteran children’s novelist Des Hunt has been announced as the recipient of the 2017 Storylines Margaret Mahy Medal&period;<&sol;h4>&NewLine;<p>The Margaret Mahy Medal has been given since 1991 for an outstanding contribution and lifetime achievement in the field of New Zealand children’s literature and literacy&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;Des Hunt’s  greatest contribution is his ability to &OpenCurlyQuote; hook’ young people into reading through his riveting stories situated in familiar contexts&comma; with characters similar to their friends and families&period; His school presentations make children feel that books are pivotal to their lives&comma;” says Storylines spokesman Dr Libby Limbrick&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Des Hunt is the author of more than 20 acclaimed children’s and young adult novels&comma; most set in New Zealand with strong environment and science themes&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Since his first novel for children in 2001&comma; <em>A Friend in Paradise<&sol;em>&comma; he has produced one or two novels nearly every year&comma; winning places on Storylines Notable Books and New Zealand Post <a class&equals;"wpil&lowbar;keyword&lowbar;link" href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;schoolnews&period;co&period;nz&sol;2015&sol;11&sol;children-s-book-awards-merge-prize-money-increases&sol;" title&equals;"book awards" data-wpil-keyword-link&equals;"linked" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank">book awards<&sol;a> short lists&period; <em>Cry of the Taniwha<&sol;em> won the 2016 Storylines Gaelyn Gordon Award for a Much-loved Book&comma; and his latest <em>Sunken Forest<&sol;em> is a 2017 Storylines Notable Book&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;