The 2012 Carnegie AND the 2012 Greenaway Medals have been awarded to...

...A Monster Calls, written by Patrick Ness, illustrated by Jim Kay, and from an original idea by Siobhan Dowd.

Two firsts here: Patrick Ness is the first author to win the Carnegie two years in a row, and this is the first time that one book has won both awards.

From his acceptance speech...

The worst thing our current government and, in fact, we as a culture do about teenagers is that we only seem to discuss them in negative terms. What they can't do, what they aren't achieving. Why have we allowed that to happen?

...which he dedicated to his readers:

The ones who are a walking, talking rebuttal to every negative thing that gets said about them, the ones who stick two fingers up to us and thrive anyway.

Bonus link: an interview with Patrick Ness and Jim Kay on the creation of the book.