MCB nets follow-up to Rashford and Anka's You Are a Champion

Macmillan Children’s Books (MCB) has landed the follow-up to Marcus Rashford and Carl Anka’s bestselling You Are a Champion. 

Samantha Smith, publisher of fiction, non-fiction and picture books, and Cate Augustin, senior editor of non-fiction and fiction, bought world rights to You Can Do It: How to Find Your Team and Make a Difference from Kelly Hogarth at Thelma Gwen, who represents Rashford, and Becky Thomas at Lewinsohn Literary, who represents Anka. It will publish in July 2022. 

MCB said the release will be "a significant publishing event" supported by national print and broadcast media and an extensive multi-channel marketing campaign that will reach across all consumer groups within the children’s book-buying market. As with You Are a Champion (Macmillan Children’s), the campaign will encourage the gifting of copies to support children with the least access to books.

You Are a Champion has sold in excess of 225,000 copies for just over £1.27m and was by far the biggest-selling kids’ non-fiction title in the UK in 2021. It saw Rashford win the FutureBook Person of the Year and the Books Are My Bag Breakthrough Author of the Year award. In addition, You Are a Champion won W H Smith’s Book of the Year and was shortlisted for Waterstones Book of the Year. It will be published by Macmillan in the US in June 2022 under the Feiwel and Friends imprint.

Rashford is also writing a middle-grade fiction book, The Breakfast Club Adventures, co-written with Alex Falase-Koya and illustrated by Marta Kissi, which will be published in May 2022.

The new book with Anka will encourage readers to use their voice to champion causes they care about. It will show that even the smallest changes can have a big impact, and contain helpful advice from Rashford on the importance of teamwork, how to celebrate and champion difference, how to be kind to yourself and others, and how to use your voice to make a meaningful change for the better. The text will also include expert tips from social justice educator Shannon Weber and will be accompanied with black and white images and infographics.

Rashford said: “It was important, ahead of pulling together the idea for You Can Do It: How to Find Your Team and Make a Difference, that we spent a bit of time with children who had read You Are a Champion, understanding what they took away from the book and what tools we could still equip them with, so they are best prepared for adult life. The insight sessions were brilliant and I’m proud of the outcome, focusing on how we can best champion one another, and view difference as a positive rather than a means to discriminate. This is about how you can use your voice to support others. I’m thrilled to be continuing this journey with Carl and the Macmillan Children’s Books team.”

Anka added: "I’m delighted to be collaborating with Marcus on another children’s book. The creative journey of You Are a Champion was one of the most amazing things I’ve ever experienced, so when he floated the idea of another book I leapt at the chance. We want to build on some of the ideas and principles developed in the first book and hopefully create something to help young people foster their communities and go out and shape the world.”

Belinda Ioni Rasmussen, m.d. at MCB, commented: “We couldn’t be more proud to be publishing this new non fiction title by Marcus Rashford and Carl Anka. Marcus’ bestseller, You Are a Champion, is a practical guide, which has had tangible impact on its readers and now You Can Do It takes everything a step further, helping young people to find their voice and showing them how to use it for good in their communities. This second book establishes Marcus as an important authorial voice, a life coach, who aims to reach, inspire and support all young people. MCB remains committed to supporting Marcus in getting You Can Do It into the hands of as many children as we can and continuing to promote Marcus’ mission to make reading and books accessible to all children.”