Hodder Children’s pre-empts Singer's 'book of our times'

Hodder Children’s Books, an imprint of Hachette Children’s Group, has pre-empted a commercial fiction novel by Nicky Singer.

The Survival Game is set in a world ravaged by climate change. Main character Mhairi has only two things, a gun with no bullets and her identity papers, and she helps a young boy who no papers find safety.

Senior publisher Anne McNeil bought UK and Commonwealth rights, excluding Canada, from Clare Conville at Conville + Walsh, and will publish both YA and “adult-facing” editions in July.

McNeil said: “The Survival Game is a searing, timely story, as arresting as it is beautiful. Tautly powerful and brilliant, this is a book of our times – every reader will imagine it is their story. It’s a game changer."

Singer is also the author of Feather Boy (HarperCollins Children’s Books), which won the Blue Peter Best Book of the Year prize in 2002. Her 2015 book Island (Caboodle Books) was longlisted for the CILIP Carnegie Medal.