Hachette Children's to publish Mathieu's feminist reimagining of The Outsiders

Hachette Children’s Group has acquired Bad Girls Never Say Die by Jennifer Mathieu, a "gender-flipped feminist reimagining" of S E Hinton’s 1967 coming-of-age novel The Outsiders (Viking). 

Naomi Greenwood, senior commissioning editor acquired UK and Commonwealth rights from Anna Carmichael at Abner Stein. It will be published in paperback and e-book on 21st October 2021 by the Hodder Children’s Books imprint. 

The synopsis reads: "Evie Barnes is a bad girl. So are all her friends. They're the sort who wear bold make-up, laugh too loud and run around with boys. Most of all, they protect their own against the world. When Evie is saved from being assaulted by a ‘good’ girl from the ‘right’ side of the tracks, every rule she's always lived by is called into question. Now she must rethink what she thought she knew about loyalty and learn that when girls stick together, it doesn’t matter whether they’re good or bad."

Greenwood said: "You are always in good hands with Jennifer Mathieu. This gender-flipped feminist reimagining of The Outsiders is brilliantly executed and will appeal to Moxie fans and beyond. We are delighted to be publishing more from Jennifer as she continues to inspire young readers to smash the patriarchy!"

Mathieu commented: "I'm thrilled and honoured that my next novel, Bad Girls Never Say Die, has a home at Hachette! And I'm so excited for UK readers to meet Evie and her friends, a gang of teens that I hope will push readers to think about what it really means to be a bad girl."

Hodder Children's Books published Mathieu's Moxie in 2017 and it is now a Netflix film starring and produced by Amy Poehler.