children's & YA recommendations on the go
Sunday Times Children’s Book of the Week, July 8 2018
“This exceptional young adult/crossover debut is the compelling, sharply observed story of a family in crisis told, in an understated narrative reminiscent of Mark Haddon or Harper Lee, by 13 year old Lou, who is on the autism spectrum.” Nicolette Jones
The Times reports:
A historical fantasy set on St Kilda and in the Borders has become the first young adult book to win the Times/Chicken House award for children’s fiction.
Its writer, Trudi Tweedie, a former beer researcher and a mother of two from Aberdeen, wins the prize of a worldwide publishing contract and a £10,000 advance. Chicken House aims to publish the book in 2020.
The thriller, set in 15th-century Scotland, involves a teenage girl who is whisked away from her remote island home to be a governess in a grand but strangely sinister house on the mainland.
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The annual competition is open to unpublished writers who don’t have an agent. In the nine years since the first winner was announced, the prize has launched the careers of many established and successful children’s authors, such as Sophia Bennett, Kerr Thomson, and Tom Ellen and Lucy Ivison. The publishing house endeavours to continue working with all shortlisted writers in some capacity, often leading to publication — in addition to last year’s winning novel, Jasbinder Bilan’s Asha and the Spirit Bird, Chicken House signed two of the shortlisted authors and one who was longlisted.
The tenth competition, for a 2019 winner, will open in the coming months. More information can be found at chickenhousebooks.com/submissions and by following @aoconnellon Twitter
Times Children’s Book of the Week 3 March 2018
Debut novel…
“Chloe Daykins’ voice is clear and confident and this reads like a novel from ma more experienced writer. Hold your breath and dive in’ it’s fish food for the soul.” Alex O’Connell
Illustrator information: Richard Jones
Chinese illustrator Qian Shi makes her picturebook debut with The Weaver (Andersen Press, £10.99, 2+), a story about a spider called Stanley and his quest to weave a web he can call home. Shi integrates facts about the natural world with this unusual arachnid adventure to great effect, underscoring the fragility of life and habitats in the natural world. She also has great fun animating the simple spider shapes with hilarious expressions and unusual poses. Sara Keating IRISH TIMES
Jess is allergic to the sun. She lives in a world of shadows and hospitals, peeking at the other children in the playground from behind curtains. Her only friend is a boy in a coma, to whom she tells stories.
[A] delicately constructed debut… Elegant, assured, sad and hilarious
Imagen Russell Williams, Guardian Review
Publishing 5th July this year…
Emily Thomas’s semi-autobiographical debut novel, Mud, acquired by Andersen Press.
The author worked as editor and publisher at Hodder Children’s Books and Bonnier’s Hot Key Books, where she launched Dawn O’Porter’s debut novels, and, as editor, in 2015 won the Branford Boase Award, with the author Rosie Rowell for Leopold Blue.
World rights for Mud have been negotiated by Charlie Sheppard, Andersen Press’s Publishing Director, and Gillie Russell of Aitken Alexander Associates.
Described as Adrian Mole meets I Capture the Castle, according to the Press Release Mud is a funny and touching story based on the author’s own adolescence, with strong themes of loss and grief, friendship and parental breakdown filtered through the lens of a 14-year-old-girl’s diary.
Andersen Press will publish with a cover [see above] created by Helen Musselwhite, the paper artist known for her collaborations with Royal Mail, Audi and Cadbury’s.
Charlie Sheppard, publishing director at Andersen Press, has said of the deal, “We all know that Mud sticks. Well this Mud certainly does. It’s the story of an extraordinary adolescence; a novel which I desperately wanted to publish the moment I read it. It’s bittersweet and unique – and it will stick with you. I’m immensely proud that Emily has chosen Andersen Press to be its publisher.”
Emily’s agent, Gillie Russell, has said, “Reading Mud for the first time, I experienced one of those rare, delightful moments – it quite literally captured my heart. Warm, funny, real and universal in its appeal, the characters come to life on every page through Lydia’s engaging young voice.”
Back rowing, standing: Jay Hulme (Rising Stars poet), Riya Chowdhury (Rising Stars illustrator), Joelle Taylor (consultant and Artistic Director of SLAMbassadors UK), Janetta Otter-Barry (Publisher, Otter-Barry Books), Franziska Liebig (Company Manager, Pop Up Projects), Judith Escreet (Art Director, Otter-Barry Books ), Amina Jama (Rising Stars poet) and Victoria Adukwei Bulley (Rising Stars poet) Front row, seated: Joe Manners (Rising Stars illustrator), Abigail Cook (Rising Stars poet), Dylan Calder (Director, Pop Up Projects) and Ruth Awolola (Rising Stars poet) / Photograph by Joel Ford
Five début poets from diverse backgrounds, all aged 26 and under, performed work from the new collection Rising Stars, New Voices in Poetry, to a crowded room of booksellers, librarians, poets, festival programmers, critics and friends at Gerry’s Kitchen, Theatre Royal Stratford East, London on 21st November.
The poetry anthology for 10-14 year olds is an exciting collaboration between Otter-Barry Books and Pop Up Projects, supported by Arts Council England’ Grant for the Arts programme. Illustrations in the book are by final year students from Birmingham City University’s illustration course.
Joelle Taylor, founder and Artistic Director of SLAMbassadors UK, mentored all the poets and was consultant for the book. She said: “Rising Stars is a unique addition to the young poetry canon, with an anthology that addresses the vast diversity of people within the UK. Written by some of the brightest emerging poets in the country, the book tackles everyday issues from Afro hair to impending divorce with a delicacy and empathy rarely found. Finally, here is poetry that readers can see their faces in.”
Janetta Otter-Barry, Publisher, Otter-Barry Books said: “ We are immensely proud to publish this ground-breaking poetry collection for young readers.”
Dylan Calder, Director, Pop Up Projects added: “All children need to see themselves in the pages of the books they read. Whatever it is you discover in this eloquent collection, have no doubt that between these pages you’ll encounter some of the brightest lights in poetry today – alongside outstanding first-time illustrators. Truly, these are the stars to watch out for.”
The Unpredictability Of Being Human by Linni Ingemundsen
Billed as “a comic and captivating coming-of-age story that never pretends life is perfect, from a ground-breaking voice in YA”.
The author is Norwegian and currently living in Malta. She has worked as a freelance cartoonist and journalist.
Rebecca Hill, Usborne’s Fiction Editorial Director, says, “The book will break your heart and mend it again – leaving you a tiny crack that resists fixing.”
from The Bookseller
Frances Lincoln Children’s Books is launching a sub-imprint devoted to debuts with a “diverse and global focus”.
The Lincoln First Editions team, which forms part of the Quarto group, will “travel the world to discover the best children’s picture books” from new authors and illustrators, “using its publishing expertise to turn them into global brands”.
Commissioning editor Katie Cotton (pictured left) will oversee and curate the new list and described it as a a “wonderful opportunity”.
The sub-imprint will publish up to six books a year for which either the author or illustrator will have only published up to two books previously. It will also have “a diverse and global focus looking for the best new talent, irrespective of background or nationality”.
The Spring 2018 First Editions launch titles are Erik and the Lone Wolf by Sarah Finan, which will be published in February, Baby Bird by Andrew Gibbs and Zosienka, in March, Cannonball Coralie by Grace Easton, in May. If All the World Were by Joe Coehlo and Allison Colpoys, publishing in June.
https://www.thebookseller.com/news/quarto-launches-sub-imprint-childrens-debuts-global-focus-645276