Interviews

"But queerness has granted me community and freedom from a lot of my internalized, heteronormative expectations of what a happy life has to look like."

Filled with joy, fun, a delightful cast of characters and a heartwarming message, Hena Khan's newest middle grade novel, Zara’s Rules for Finding Hidden Treasure, is just further proof of what a gift Hena's writing is to the middle grade…

"Our anger is constantly forced downwards, away from our mouths and fists, pressed deep into our bellies, a pressure valve with no release. And we wonder why it so often spills over. We wonder why we feel so evil when it does."

Romantic and deeply emotional, Love from Mecca to Medina, the follow up to S.K. Ali's hit young adult romance, Love from A to Z, is a moving and honest love story that easily burrows into its readers hearts, to live there forevermore. To…

Sal hates standing out. But he lives in a haunted house - and everybody knows it. His oldest friend, Dirk, tries to help... but he wants to stay popular, and Sal isn't helping. Elsie was popular - until recently. Now she's on the outcast's…

The Silver Chain is an illustrated coming-of-age verse novel about family, mental health and the healing power of music. Azadeh is a budding violinist on a music scholarship at an expensive private school, dealing with all the usual trials…

Emma Carroll reworked the Hans Christian Andersen classic in The Little Match Girl Strikes Back. Along with illustrations from Lauren Child, this book is a brilliant feminist retelling that gives the match girl a much deserved voice. We had…

Rosie Talbot, known on BookTok as @merrowchild, has finally released her debut YA novel, Sixteen Souls with Scholastic after an unusual publishing journey. The heartfelt novel follows Charlie Frith as he realises that one of his own ghostly…

The BBC has been organizing the Young Writers' Award with the University of Cambridge for eight years. The challenge encourages young people in the UK aged between 14-18 years to submit stories of up to 1,000 words. The winner this year is…

This post is sponsored by Faber & Faber Kacen Callender is nothing but a pro at writing novels that make you think, swoon and keep you glued to their pages and Kacen's newest YA title, Lark & Kasim Start a Revolution, is no…

Friends-to-lovers fans, it's time to meet your new favourite book. Relatable, swoon worthy, emotional and beyond adorable, Susan Lee's debut YA rom-com, Seoulmates, is a gorgeous story of love, friendship, family and cultural identity and…

One of the most emotional, moving, harrowing and beautifully written debut's of 2022, As Long as the Lemon Trees Grow by Zoulfa Katouh, tells the story of Salama, an aspiring pharmacist and Syrian teen caught in the middle of Syria's…

This post is sponsored by penguin. Set against the gothic backdrop of Castello, an isolated walled Italian city mysteriously split in two, With Fire in Their Blood by Kat Delacorte is one of 2022's most original and exciting releases.…

All My Rage is an absolutely beautiful story - that took 15 years to complete.

The Silence That Binds Us is an incredibly touching tale about first-generation families, racism, grief and anger.