The longlist for the Guardian Children's Fiction Prize 2003 has been announced.

The longlist includes several books that were included on the Booktrust teenage prize announced last week as well as the as yet unpublished 'The Fire-Eaters' from David Almond and 'The Book of Dead Days' by Marcus Sedgwick.

This year's judges are: children's laureate Michael Morpurgo, Philip Ardagh, creator of the bestselling Eddie Dickens trilogy, and Malorie Blackman, author of Pig-Heart Boy . The panel is chaired by Julia Eccleshare who is the children's books editor for the Guardian.

The shortlist for this year's prize will be published in September and the winner will be announced on October 4.

The Longlist
The Fire-Eaters by David Almond (Hodder)
The Book of Dead Days by Marcus Sedgwick (Orion)
Lucas by Kevin Brooks (The Chicken House)
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon (David Fickling Books)
The Speed of the Dark by Alex Shearer (Macmillan)
Bad Alice by Jean Ure (Hodder)
Where in the World by Simon French (Little Hare Books)
Malarkey by Keith Gray (Red Fox)