Waterstones prize winner Elle McNicoll: ‘I never saw autistic girls in books’

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 ]

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Defusing the culture war over masks outdoors

Yesterday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued an update to their coronavirus masking guidance. Fully vaccinated people can now go maskless outdoors, apart from in crowds, and even people who aren’t fully vaccinated can exercise maskless outdoors alone or with their household.... Continue reading at Columbia Journalism Review

[ Columbia Journalism Review | 2021-04-28 12:29:35 UTC ]
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The Books That Led Her to Her Art

A children’s book illustrator and author describes her path through classics like “Blueberries for Sal” and “Where the Wild Things Are.” Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2021-04-16 17:02:03 UTC ]
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Book Deals: Week of April 19, 2021

Pamela Dorman buys a debut novel by a longtime Knopf editor, Holt signs a memoir by Ronnie Spector, Hanya Yanagihara re-ups with Doubleday, and more. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2021-04-16 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Knopf's Jackson Sells Debut Novel for Rumored Seven Figures

In a deal rumored to be in the seven figure-range, Knopf editor Jenny Jackson sold her debut novel to Pam Dorman, who has an eponymous imprint at Penguin Random House. 'Pineapple Street' follows three sisters who are members of a wealthy family, and is slated to be released in early 2023. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2021-04-14 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Time to rewatch this iconic performance of Where the Wild Things Are.

Today, April 9th, marks the fifty-eight publication anniversary of Maurice Sendak’s Where the Wild Things Are. Perhaps the most beloved children’s book of the latter half of the 20th century, Sendak’s gorgeously-illustrated tale of a young boy in a wolf suit who, upon being sent to bed with no... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2021-04-09 16:58:23 UTC ]
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A Potion Made of Stolen Gold to Achieve the Indian American Dream

Sanjena Sathian’s debut novel Gold Diggers is set in the Indian American suburbs of Atlanta—a world of competitive debate and spelling bees, of racing to get into the most prestigious academic summer camps, of Miss Teen India pageants—all roads leading to the promised land of America’s most... Continue reading at Electric Literature

[ Electric Literature | 2021-04-09 11:00:00 UTC ]
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Bologna Children’s Book Fair Cancels Its Physical 2021 Fair

The Bologna International Children's Book Fair announces a digital-only edition for 2021, cancelling its physical fair over the COVID-19 pandemic. The post Bologna Children’s Book Fair Cancels Its Physical 2021 Fair appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2021-04-09 05:12:11 UTC ]
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Park Chan-wook is directing a TV adaptation of Viet Thanh Nguyen’s The Sympathizer.

Exciting adaptation news: A24 and Rhombus Media have optioned the rights to Viet Thanh Nguyen’s The Sympathizer, Nguyen’s Pulitzer-winning debut novel about a half-French, half-Vietnamese army captain who serves as a communist double agent after the fall of Saigon. The novel is being developed... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2021-04-07 14:34:36 UTC ]
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James McBride has won the inaugural Gotham Book Prize for literature that celebrates NYC.

Last year, when New York City was the epicenter of the COVID-19 outbreak in America, Bradley Tusk and Howard Wolfson decided to create a new annual award, the Gotham Book Prize, as part of an effort to “honor New York City and support the novelists who best captured the spirit of our city,” as... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2021-04-06 13:00:34 UTC ]
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Book Deals: Week of April 5, 2021

William Morrow preempts a debut novel by Liz Stein, Michelle Tea sells a memoir about the reproductive industrial complex to Dey Street, and more. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2021-04-02 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Bologna Children’s Book Fair: Early Announcements of 2021 Features

The Bologna Children's Book Fair issues announcements to the news media about what organizers hope can be a physical event on June 14 to 17. The post Bologna Children’s Book Fair: Early Announcements of 2021 Features appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2021-03-29 15:58:30 UTC ]
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Beverly Cleary, Beloved Children’s Book Author, Dies at 104

Her funny stories about Henry Huggins and his dog Ribsy, the sisters Ramona and Beezus Quimby, and a motorcycling mouse named Ralph never talked down to readers. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2021-03-27 22:33:26 UTC ]
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A debut novel about migration, family and survival is everything 'American Dirt' wasn't

"Of Women and Salt," tracking generations of Latinas, comes out of Gabriela Garcia's family story, life experience and advocacy for migrants. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2021-03-23 19:20:30 UTC ]
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Phil Earle | 'I genuinely thought I was done. I had nothing left to say'

"I had a physical reaction. It literally made the hairs on my arm stand up.” Phil Earle is talking about the moment he heard the true story which inspired his new children’s book When the Sky Falls. The story was “gifted” to him by a family member, whose father was part of the Manchester home... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2021-03-19 20:44:59 UTC ]
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The COVID Tracking Project is (nearly) gone. Can we see clearly now?

One evening in early March of last year, Alexis C. Madrigal and Robinson Meyer, colleagues at The Atlantic, set out to answer a simple question: how many people had been tested for the coronavirus in the US so far? The answer, it turned out, was actually quite complicated: in the absence of data... Continue reading at Columbia Journalism Review

[ Columbia Journalism Review | 2021-03-17 12:29:53 UTC ]
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In the ’80s, she wrestled as Mad Maxine. Now her debut novel takes readers inside the ring.

Writer Jeannine Mjoseth was looking for adventure when she turned to professional wrestling. She got plenty of that. Continue reading at The Washington Post

[ The Washington Post | 2021-03-15 12:00:00 UTC ]
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Picador lands Mulvey's stories and debut novel

Picador has landed a story collection and debut novel from Niamh Mulvey, writer of publishing newsletter “In the Read” and a former Quercus commissioning editor. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2021-03-04 22:15:18 UTC ]
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Vintage editor Lily Lindon's 'wild ride' debut goes to Head of Zeus

The debut novel of Vintage editor Lily Lindon has gone to Head of Zeus in a four-way auction, as part of a two-book deal.  Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2021-03-04 09:59:43 UTC ]
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Review: Why do women stay with toxic men? A debut novel has some uncomfortable answers

Megan Nolan's "Acts of Desperation," about a woman in thrall to an older man, stands out from similar tales with an uncannily self-aware narrator. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2021-03-03 15:00:19 UTC ]
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In ‘Who Is Maud Dixon?,’ a Dream Job Leads to a Twisty Nightmare

Alexandra Andrews’s debut novel follows a Machiavellian aspiring writer who becomes entangled in her work for a best-selling fiction writer. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2021-03-03 11:00:00 UTC ]
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