ACHUKAblog
Three close friends…Two unforgettable summers… One girl’s deepest secret… Alys appeared last summer, and then she vanished without a trace. Ifan fell in love with her. Hannah hated her. And Marko regrets what they did. This summer Cait is new in town, and a girl has been reported missing. Cait needs to uncover the truth. What happened last summer? And who is Alys?
Read the book before you see the musical, coming to the West End Autumn 2019.
A simple lie leads to complicated truths in this big-hearted coming-of-age story of grief, authenticity and the struggle to belong in an age of instant connectivity and profound isolation.
Times Children’s Book of the Week, 30 March 2019
Reimagined by bestselling author Sophie McKenzie and told throughthe eyes of everybody’s favourite sister, Becoming Jo perfectly captures the magic, exuberance and spirit of the original and much-loved book.
“McKenzie’s characters are familiar but fresh, and the writing will lead many new readers to the original novel…” The Times
Painfully shy Alex is abandoned by his two best friends for the summer. But he unexpectedly lands a part-time job at Wonderland, a run-down amusement arcade on the seafront, where he gets to know the other teen misfits who work there. Alex starts to come out of his shell, and even begins to develop feelings for co-worker Ben… who, as Alex’s bad luck would have it, has a girlfriend. Then as debtors close in on Wonderland and mysterious, threatening notes start to appear, Alex and his new friends take it on themselves to save their declining employer. But, like everything in Wonderland, nothing is quite what it seems…
‘One of the best love stories I’ve ever read.’ Angie Thomas, bestselling author of The Hate U Give.
From debut author Justin A. Reynolds comes The Opposite of Always,a razor-sharp, hilarious and heartfelt novel about the choices we make, the people we choose and the moments that make life worth reliving.
When Jack and Kate meet at a party, he knows he’s falling – hard. Soon she’s meeting his best friends and Kate wins them over as easily as she did Jack. But then Kate dies. And their story should end there. But it doesn’t.
Meredith Russo depicted the complexities of Trans life in If I Was Your Girl; now with Birthday she charts the development of an emotionally charged relationship between two best friends who are fighting to make themselves and their identities heard. Wearing its message with a light touch, Birthday is simply a beautifully constructed love story told with Russo’s customary eloquence.
Billed as the “LGBTQ+ love story we’ve all been waiting for”
Jana Novak’s history sounds like a classic model cliche: tall and gangly, she’s uncomfortable with her androgynous looks until she’s unexpectedly scouted and catapulted to superstardom.
But the fashion industry is as grimy as it is glamorous. And there are unexpected predators at every turn.
Jana is an ordinary girl from a south London estate, lifted to unimaginable heights. But the further you rise, the more devastating your fall …
Honest and raw, Meat Market is a timely expose of the dark underbelly of the fashion industry in an era of #TimesUp and #MeToo.
“A powerful counterweight to light-hearted literature that still portrays modelling as the stuff of dreams.” GAURDIAN REVIEW
The new thriller from the acclaimed author of The One Memory of Flora Banks, perfect for fans of Karen McManus, E. Lockhart and Sophie McKenzie.
Times Children’s Book of the Week, 11May 2019
Not since The Inbetweeners has a coming of age story been so irreverent and relatable. Fifteen-year-old Sam is not a famous vlogger, he’s never gone viral, and he doesn’t want to be the Next Big Thing. In fact he’s ordinary and proud of it. None of which was a problem until Dad got rich and Mum made the whole family move to London.
“I’ll be giving this to every teenage I know.”
Alex O’Connell, THE TIMES
Times Children’s Book of the Week 27 April 2019
I am not who I say I am, and Marla isn’t who she thinks she is. I am a girl trying to forget. She is a woman trying to remember. Allison has run away from home and with nowhere to live finds herself hiding out in the shed of what she thinks is an abandoned house. But the house isn’t empty. An elderly woman named Marla, with dementia, lives there – and she mistakes Allison for an old friend from her past called Toffee.
Allison is used to hiding who she really is, and trying to be what other people want her to be. And so, Toffee is who she becomes. After all, it means she has a place to stay. There are worse places she could be. But as their bond grows, and Allison discovers how much Marla needs a real friend, she begins to ask herself – where is home? What is a family? And most importantly, who am I, really?
“It’s a reflection of Crossan’s skill that the misery never feels overdrawn and the characters stay with you long after you have read the last line.”
Alex O’Connell THE TIMES
“Laced with old hurts and small kindnesses, it’s a book that changes its reader for the better.”
Imogen Russell Williams, GUARDIAN