Melvin Burgess pens new YA novel

Melvin Burgess is set to release a YA novel about a girl who discovers she has the powers of a witch this August.

The Lost Witch marks a return to Andersen Press for Burgess, after he published his iconic YA novel Junk in 1996  with the firm, and most recently Nicholas Dane in 2009. 

Klaus Flugge, founder of Andersen Press, said: “I am very proud to be Melvin Burgess’ first ever publisher, working with him since 1990 through major successes including winning the Carnegie Medal for Junk in 1996. To bring him back to our list with The Lost Witch feels like a real homecoming and we’re delighted to be publishing such a fantastic book.”

Burgess added: "The Lost Witch is the first book that I've felt really committed to for a long time. It's given me a chance to explore a world that people everywhere believed in for hundreds of thousands of years and rebuilding that world in the modern day has been a remarkable experience. I hope that comes across in the reading of it.”

Charlie Sheppard, publishing director at Andersen Press, bought world rights to The Lost Witch from Caradoc King at AP Watt and will publish on 2nd August in hardback.