Barrington Stoke lands children’s cli-fi thriller by Cole 

Barrington Stoke has acquired Drowning in My Bedroom, a “gripping tale of survival” from Steve Cole. It will be published in April 2024 as part of Barrington Stoke’s super-readable format for readers aged nine-plus.

World rights were acquired by publisher Ailsa Bathgate from Philippa Milnes-Smith at the Soho Agency.

Drowning in My Bedroom explores the impacts of climate change on vulnerable communities and developing economies, intersecting with the challenges of disability and poverty in the lives of young people.

The synopsis reads: “Gayla is trapped when floodwater pours into her bedroom in a residential centre for young people with disabilities. The other children have been evacuated while Gayla waited for her father, but now the streets around are cut off and she’s all alone with no way out.

“Junjun’s makeshift shack has been washed away in the flood and he needs to find medicine for his sister, who’s sick after drinking contaminated water. At first these two young people seem to have little in common and pity each other, but as the waters continue to rise, they must work together to survive.”

Cole has written over 150 books including the Astrosaurs series, Doctor Who fiction, the latest iterations of the Young Bond series, and the Swarm Rising series with astronaut Tim Peake, alongside climate-fiction World Burn Down, Stitched Up, Tin Man and Welcome to Trashland (all Barrington Stoke).

Cole said: “While climate change is a problem that affects us all, there are disproportionate impacts on marginalised groups. As an able person in a more affluent society, I know I can never grasp fully the experience of someone with disabilities or who was raised on the streets. This story is offered as an act of imaginative empathy inspired by real events. It’s not about celebrating the protagonists as inspirational for surviving the personal tragedy of their circumstances; my hope is that young people will recognise the underlying realities of how ableism, inequality and poor infrastructure place the most vulnerable in society at the frontline of disaster.”

Bathgate said: “In this powerful and gripping novella, Steve lays bare the disproportionate impact that global warming has in developing nations such as the Philippines. He has also taken this opportunity, with the help of children and adults with disabilities, and authenticity readers, to explore the implications for particularly vulnerable communities, featuring a main character with cerebral palsy and a young boy living in poverty on the streets, who work together to survive in what is an incredibly impactful and thought-provoking story.”