Malaysian author Nadia Mikail was announced the Best Book for Older Readers and Overall Winner of Waterstones Children's Book Prize 2023 in Britain with her debut novel “The Cats We Meet Along The Way.”

The Sarawak-born author and law graduate, who’s currently taking the solicitors qualifying exam (SQE) at King's College in London, received a cash prize of £5,000 (about RM27,000) along with her accolade.

“There are no words to describe how I felt when this was announced, and my lack of ability to find those words was made very clear when I stumbled onstage and mumbled noises that I hope sounded a bit like thank you,” she said in an Instagram post.

The novel, inspired by the events of the COVID-19 pandemic, was published by Guppy Books in 2022.

It tells the story of 17-year-old Aisha who hasn’t seen her sister June in two years. When “a calamity is about to end the world in nine months' time,” she decided to embark on a road trip through Malaysia, along with her boyfriend, his parents, and a stray cat (Fleabag) in a decorated campervan to find June.

Established in 2005, the Waterstones Children’s Book Prize is an annual award by British book retailer Waterstones that aims “to uncover hidden talent in children’s writing” and is given only to authors with no more than three published books.

Check out this year’s other winners here. To know more about Mikail, you can read her blog on Waterstones’ website.