The author was repeatedly told that no one wanted to read fun books with disabled heroes. Now she has won the £5,000 Waterstones children’s book prize for her debut, A Kind of SparkWhen Scottish author Elle McNicoll was first trying to enter the publishing world, she was repeatedly told that people didn’t want to read about an autistic heroine. “In job interviews, I was saying that I wanted to see more books with disabled characters in them that were not traumatic, boring or educational, but fun and full of life. A lot of the reactions were, ‘Waterstones don’t like books like that’,” she says.Now McNicoll’s debut novel A Kind of Spark has won the Waterstones children’s book prize. Published by tiny independent Knights Of, it follows Addie, an 11-year-old autistic girl, as she campaigns for a memorial to the witch trials that took place in her Scottish village. The novel has been praised by Waterstones’ booksellers as “eye opening, heart-wrenching, sad [and] inspiring”. Continue reading... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'
[ The Guardian | 2021-07-01 05:01:05 UTC ]
This week on The Lit Hub Podcast: How the publishing world can respond to Trump, and “What energizes you?” | Lit Hub Radio “When in doubt, leave the reaction out.” Eric Puchner on how to be funny when writing a novel. | Lit Hub Craft Ted Hamm on how Jimmy Breslin and Langston Hughes each […] Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2025-02-21 11:30:16 UTC ]
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Children’s books fall into six main categories based on age groups and format: board books (ages 0-3), picture books (3-8), ... Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2025-02-20 11:00:00 UTC ]
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Bologna's rights-business structure is evolving along with creative industries' growing engagement with book publishing. The post Bologna Children’s Book Fair’s Evolving Rights Hubs appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2025-02-15 01:29:36 UTC ]
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Olufunke Grace Bankole’s debut novel The Edge of Water opens with a prophecy: “A storm is coming.” The order of things, the Iyanifa tells us, will be disrupted by a soul who defies her fate. What follows is the story of three generations of Nigerian and Nigerian American women: Esther, who... Continue reading at Electric Literature
[ Electric Literature | 2025-02-04 12:00:00 UTC ]
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Scotland's Highland Book Prize longlist features nonfiction, fiction, and poetry this year, an award for trade publishers and authors. The post Scotland’s Highland Book Prize Names Its Longlist appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2025-01-30 12:36:09 UTC ]
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Good Girl—the debut novel by award-winning poet Aria Aber—follows nineteen-year-old Nila as she becomes charmed in a Berlin club and falls manically in love with Marlowe, an older brooding American writer. Raised by Afghan refugees, Nila’s childhood remains haunted by the shadows of exile while... Continue reading at Electric Literature
[ Electric Literature | 2025-01-24 12:00:00 UTC ]
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Some of the most impactful books out there are children’s books. They’re often our first experiences with narratives and are ... Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2025-01-16 12:00:00 UTC ]
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“Those people. My whole existence, neatly packed into one demonstrative adjective,” says Nila, the protagonist of Aria Aber’s pulsing debut novel Good Girl. Nila was born in Berlin, “inside its ghetto-heart, as a small, wide-eyed rat, in the months after reunification.” As these quotations show,... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2025-01-16 09:56:24 UTC ]
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A debut novel about an Afghan German party girl in Berlin shows that there are plenty of ways to dramatize the immigrant experience. Continue reading at The Atlantic
[ The Atlantic | 2025-01-15 14:30:00 UTC ]
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Readying its second year, the new Singapore Children's Book Festival is staged by the Singapore Book Publishers Association The post Singapore Children’s Book Festival Calls for Programming Proposals appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2025-01-13 23:00:45 UTC ]
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Aria Aber’s exciting debut novel finds the daughter of an Afghan refugee sidestepping disapproval and racism as she dives into Berlin’s nightworld. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2025-01-13 10:00:16 UTC ]
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PW looks back at some of the library stories that captivated the publishing world this year, and what they portend for 2025. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2024-12-20 05:00:00 UTC ]
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Omar Khalifah’s debut novel resists the demand placed on those who have experienced historical atrocities to tell their stories. Continue reading at The Atlantic
[ The Atlantic | 2024-12-05 16:22:00 UTC ]
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Mazviita Chirimuuta’s work is hailed by the Al-Rodhan jury as not overlooking the true complexity of the brain. By Porter Anderson, Editor-in-Chief | @Porter_Anderson ‘This Remarkably Original Book’ n a remarkably busy season of competition announcments, the United Kingdom’s Royal Institute of... Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2024-12-04 12:38:47 UTC ]
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This month’s column is my twelfth for Lit Hub, which means I’ve been sharing new children’s book releases with you for a full year now. And 2024 has been a wonderful year for young readers! As I’ve reviewed each month’s new releases, I’ve found some of my own favorite new books, and I hope I’ve […] Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2024-12-02 09:56:42 UTC ]
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