This is an invigorating novel about sixteen-year-old Ruby who proves that being a fat girl doesn’t mean she can’t run. Refreshingly, Ruby is really positive about her body image from the outset; she is driven to run the 5km Dawson Dash not in an attempt to lose weight, but in hopes to show her ten-year-old sister that being fat is just an ‘individual difference’, like hair or eye colour, and doesn’t need to affect how you choose to live your life.
Koleka Putuma’s new collection of poems is hard-hitting and excruciatingly relatable. The collection is split into three parts; however, the themes and references interconnect, all seamlessly bleeding into one another, tackling the hardest questions that young people today face in their everyday lives.
Fourteen-year-old Anton is struggling with life. At school, his friendship group is known for being the biggest group of bullies and he has been trying and failing to catch the attention of the girl he likes. At home, Anton lives with his mum and granny, while his dad is serving time in prison with little to no contact with his family. After receiving one too many detentions and when removing his WIFI access is not enough, Anton’s mum forces him to join the local youth club to help with a project she has composed.
Hauntings don’t begin with houses. They begin with people. Teenager Daisy lives with her aunt Susan and cousin Nina (who she loves like a sister). After a tragic and mysterious childhood, Daisy has spent much of her life building walls within herself to block out the creatures festering inside her, always threatening to overflow.
This YA murder mystery is a modern take on the classic Agatha Christie whodunnit style. Set in America, a group of seven high school graduates celebrate with a week-long 1920s themed getaway.
Erik’s happiness is shattered by the death of his father and becoming the target of bullies at his new school. Erik’s mother, instead of being a source of support to him, embarks on an ill-advised subsequent relationship with a flighty man who abandons her when she becomes pregnant with twins. Erik is forced prematurely into adult responsibilities: being a substitute father and worrying about money. Poverty, fear and resentment propel him increasingly into criminality until his life and his family are threatened.
Zara and Adnan are just friends. Just best friends, to be precise. They always have been and always will be – even if their relationship is about to get very, very complicated. Adnan has found himself in a new relationship and begs Zara to become his pretend-girlfriend to deflect his family’s suspicions. Romance-mad Zara – the girl who loves romcoms and grand dramatic gestures – reluctantly agrees, even though this definitely isn’t the direction she saw her love life taking.
‘Sex is EVERYWHERE. So why don’t we talk about it properly?’, Evans questions. In her book aimed at young adults, she sets about softening the stigma surrounding, not only sex, but a number of other topics that can be difficult to discuss.
The Ivory Key is set in Ashoka, a land and queendom that possesses the last quarry of raw magic. In this world, magic is a natural resource – and like many natural resources, it is running low. Though set in a fantasy world, the recognisable realities of greed and corruption are woven throughout. As enemies of Ashoka prepare for war, ready to fight for the remaining magic, Queen Vira and her three siblings must put their differences aside to save their queendom. So begins their quest to find the legendary Ivory Key and save Ashoka before their enemies unlock a new source of magic.
Kellen is almost sixteen, which means he should be fighting magic duels and unlocking elemental powers to earn his mage name—standard rites of passage for his people. He’s failing all of them, which means that he is resorting to his best ability: quick-thinking deception.
