McCaughrean won the annual Carnegie Medal from the Library Association, recognising the year's best children's book by a British subject.

" Ailsa and Mrs Povey, while grateful to MCC for his help and enjoying his company, often have doubts about him, while Uncle Clive, on a brief visit, is positively hostile.

The stories range in subject matter from romance to piracy, in style from police procedural to narrative poetry, in setting from early twentieth century Ireland to ancient China.

Within each tale are surprising twists and turns that overlap and extend the stories-within-stories; McCaughrean pulls off each meta-fictional complexity with finesse and humor.

"[7] McCaughrean won both the Carnegie Medal[2] and the Guardian Prize[3] for A Pack of Lies, the two most prestigious British children's book awards.