ao link
Subscribe Today
5th July 20245th July 2024

YA Book Prize Tabs

Gwen & Art Are Not in Love by Lex Croucher

Gwen & Art Are Not in Love

Lex Croucher

Bloomsbury YA

Author Bio: 

Lex Croucher grew up in Surrey, reading a lot of books and making friends with strangers on the internet, and now lives in London with an elderly cat. With a background in social media for NGOs, Lex now writes historical-ish rom-coms for adults (Reputation, Infamous) and historical fantasy rom-coms for teenagers. Gwen & Art Are Not in Love is their YA debut.

X INstagram

Gwen, the quick-witted princess of England, and Arthur, future duke, have been betrothed since birth. Unfortunately, the only thing they can agree on is that they hate each other.
When Gwen catches Art kissing a boy and Art discovers where Gwen hides her diary (complete with racy entries about Bridget Leclair), they become reluctant allies.
By pretending to fall for each other, their mutual protection will be assured. But how long can they keep up the ruse? With Gwen growing closer to Bridget, and Art becoming unaccountably fond of Gabriel, Gwen's bookish brother, the path to true love is looking far from straight...

Download Extract
How to Die Famous

How to Die Famous

Benjamin Dean

Simon & Schuster

Author Bio: 

Louise Finch

Benjamin Dean is a full-time author with a background in celebrity journalism. His award-winning middle-grade debut, Me, My Dad and the End of the Rainbow, was described as “one of the most joyful books you'll read this year” (The Bookseller), and he's since gone on to publish The Secret Sunshine Project, as well The King is Dead and How to Die Famous for older readers. 

X INstagram Tiktok

London-born Abel has landed the role of a lifetime for an upcoming blockbuster. On the face of it he's Hollywood's latest teen star, but below the surface he's an undercover journalist on a mission to expose the 'squeaky clean' entertainment industry and the part they played in his brother's 'accidental' death.
As Abel steps into the spotlight alongside actors Lucky, Ryan and Ella, he soon discovers that beneath the fame lies a darker world of secrecy, scandal and murder. Nobody is who they seem when the cameras are off, and everybody has something to hide. But who's next in line to die famous?

Download Extract
Girl, Goddess, Queen

Girl, Goddess, Queen

Bea Fitzgerald

Penguin Children’s

Author Bio: 

Bea Fitzgerald is an author and content creator. She has worked in publishing for a number of years and studied English Literature and Ancient History at the University of Reading. Bea is passionate about stories and fascinated by the way they endure and resonate through centuries and generations. Bea’s debut novel Girl, Goddess, Queen was an instant Sunday Times bestseller.

X INstagram Tiktok

To hell with love, this goddess has other plans. Thousands of years ago, the gods told a lie: how Persephone was a pawn in the politics of other gods. The real story is much more interesting.
Persephone wasn't taken to hell: she jumped. There was no way she was going to be married off to some smug god more in love with himself than her.
Now all she has to do is convince the Underworld's annoyingly sexy, arrogant and frankly rude ruler, Hades, to fall in line with her plan. But consequences can be deadly, especially when you're already in hell.

Download Extract
This Book Kills

This Book Kills

Ravena Guron

Usborne

Author Bio: 

Danielle Jawando

A born and bred Londoner, Ravena writes middle-grade and YA, usually featuring anti-heroines or snarky narrators. Growing up she always read the last page of books first, but discovering Agatha Christie in her early teens stopped that habit, igniting a love of twisty murder mysteries with jaw-dropping endings the reader never saw coming. Ravena is a lawyer with a degree in biochemistry, and hopes to use the knowledge gained from her experiences to plot the perfect murder (for a book, of course!).

X INstagram Tiktok

When Hugh Henry Van Boren, one of the most popular kids in Jess Choudhary's school, is found dead, the student body is left reeling and wondering who the murderer could be... Jess, a pupil under strict instructions to keep her record clean or risk losing her scholarship, finds herself at the centre of the investigation when it's revealed that Hugh died in the exact same way as a character in a short story she wrote. And then Jess receives an anonymous text thanking her for the inspiration.
Jess knows if she doesn't solve this mystery she'll finally have something in common with Hugh Henry. She'll be dead too. 

Download Extract
This is How You Fall in Love

This is How You Fall in Love

Anika Hussain

Hot Key Books

Author Bio: 

Alex Wheatle

Born in Sweden and now living in Bristol, Anika Hussain writes YA novels with south Asian characters at the centre of the story. In her spare time, she rewatches “Love Island”, listens to too many true crime podcasts and pretends she's an athlete (she's really not).

X Instagram

Zara loves love in all forms and she's desperate to have her own great love story. Crucially, a real one. So when her best friend Adnan begs her to pretend to date him to cover up his new top-secret relationship, Zara is hesitant. But there's something in it for Zara too: making her parents, who love Adnan, happy might just stop them arguing for a while. She may not be getting her own love story, but she could save theirs.
With fake dating comes fake hand-holding and fake kissing and real feelings...and when a new boy turns up in Zara's life, things get more confusing than ever. 

Download Extract
The First Move

The First Move

Jenny Ireland

Penguin Children’s

Author Bio: 

Becky Jarams

Jenny Ireland is a YA writer who lives outside Belfast with her husband, two children and border collie. She is a Law and French Law graduate and former paralegal. In 2019 she underwent emergency brain surgery. While this experience was relatively traumatic, the close encounter with death has given her the gift of seeing what truly matters in life. Writing books.

X INstagram Tiktok

Juliet believes girls like her - girls with arthritis - don't get their own love stories. She exists at the edges of her friends' social lives, skipping parties to play online chess under a pseudonym with strangers around the world. There, she isn't just “the girl with crutches”.
Ronan is the new kid: good looking, smart, a bad boy plagued by guilt over what happened to his brother Ciaran. Chesslife is his escape.
Juliet thinks someone like Ronan could never be interested in someone like her. Little do they know they've already discovered each other online, and have more in common than they think

Download Extract
Yours From the Tower

Yours From the Tower

Sally Nicholls

Andersen Press

Author Bio: 

Sally Nicholls

Sally Nicholls grew up in Stockton-on-Tees and, after school, travelled the world, working for a Red Cross hospital in Japan. Sally's first novel, Ways to Live Forever, won the Waterstones Children's Book Prize and she has been shortlisted for the Costa Children's Book Award, and the Carnegie Medal, twice.

Tirzah, Sophia and Polly are best friends who’ve left boarding school and gone back to very different lives. Polly is teaching in an orphanage. Sophia is looking for a rich husband at the London Season. And Tirzah is stuck acting as an unpaid companion to her grandmother. In a series of letters, they share their hopes, their frustrations, their dramas ... and their romances. Can these three very different young women find happiness?

Download Extract
HappyHead

HappyHead

Josh Silver

Rock the Boat

Author Bio: 

Melinda Salisbury

Josh Silver grew up on a farm in the Lake District, before moving to Manchester with his family, where he spent his teenage years loving the city. He trained as an actor at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London and went on to perform in the West End and on Broadway. After deciding to change careers, Josh now works with teenagers as a mental health nurse.

Instagram

When Seb is offered a place on a radical retreat designed to solve the national crisis of teenage unhappiness, he is determined to change how people see him and make his parents proud. But as he finds himself drawn to the enigmatic Finn, Seb starts to question the true nature of the challenges they must undergo. The deeper into the programme the boys get, the more disturbing the assessments become, until it's clear there may be no escape.

Download Extract
Every Exquisite Thing

Every Exquisite Thing

Laura Steven

Electric Monkey

Author Bio: 

Cynthia So

Laura Steven is an author, journalist and screenwriter from the northernmost town in England. She has an MA in Creative Writing and works at a non-profit organisation supporting women in the creative arts. Her TV pilot, ‘Clickbait’, was a finalist in British Comedy's 2016 Sitcom Mission. The Exact Opposite of Okay was her first book for young adults.

Twitter INstagram Tiktok

Penny’s supermodel mother has fans around the world, and Penny is ready to begin her journey to international adoration, starting with joining Dorian Drama School.
When Penny's new mentor offers her an opportunity she cannot refuse, to have a portrait painted by a mysterious artist who can grant immortal beauty, Penny happily follows in the footsteps of Dorian's most glittering alumni.
When her mentor is found murdered, Penny realises she's made a mistake - someone is using the portraits to kill off the subjects one by one. As more perfectly beautiful students start to fall, Penny knows her time is running out. 

Download Extract
Murder On A School Night

Murder on a School Night

Kate Weston

Electric Monkey

Author Bio: 

Laura Steven

Kate Weston is an ex-stand-up comedian and bookseller. Her first YA book, Diary of a Confused Feminist, was longlisted for the Comedy Women in Print Prize 2020 and nominated for the Carnegie Medal. Murder on a School Night is her third book for teenagers. 

X InstagramTiktok

All Kerry wants to do is stay at home with her rom-coms and strict retainer schedule. Instead, Annie has roped her into going to their first sixth form party to investigate who's cyberbullying Heather, the most popular girl in school.
On the cusp of kissing her dreamy crush, Scott, Kerry discovers the body of Heather's second in command - suffocated with a menstrual cup. Within days, another student turns up dead, this time with a sanitary pad across the eyes. Now Annie and Kerry are officially on the case to stop the menstrual murderer... period.

Download Extract

Join The Bookseller

Get the latest issue, unlimited online access and more, from less than £3.50 a week

Morning Briefing

Sign up to get the latest book trade news each weekday morning
We use cookies to give you with the best, most relevant online experience. By continuing to browse this site you are agreeing to our use of cookies. Click on the banner to find out more.
Cookie Settings