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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Post-election, Kamala Harris’s books are more popular than ever.

Kamala Harris-related books have seen a sharp increase in popularity post-Biden/Harris presidential win. On Sunday, a whopping four books on Amazon’s Top 10 bestsellers list were either about or penned by the vice president-elect. The books in question: Harris’s memoir The Truths We Hold: An... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2020-11-10 17:37:24 UTC ]
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Susie Yang’s ‘White Ivy’ is an entertaining character study of a social climber with a secret

Yang’s debut novel owes a debt to Edith Wharton’s “The House of Mirth,” though Ivy Lin is no Lily Bart. Continue reading at The Washington Post

[ The Washington Post | 2020-11-05 16:42:29 UTC ]
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Nightingale

‘She knew it was a trick of the lonely to favour the rude to the simply unmoved; that the loneliest thing in these villages and in this most tucked-away of professions was to elicit no response at all.’ Marina Kemp’s debut novel Nightingale is shortlisted for the 2020 Young Writer of the Year... Continue reading at Granta

[ Granta | 2020-11-05 11:53:49 UTC ]
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Bookshop.org is what the publishing world has been waiting for

Following its its success in the US, the ethical platform Bookshop.org has arrived in the UK, marking an exciting new chapter for independent stores onlineIn publishing we often talk about things that we are “excited” and “delighted” about, so much that sometimes I think the words have lost... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2020-11-05 08:00:40 UTC ]
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Osman's debut novel announced as W H Smith Book of the Year

Richard Osman's debut crime novel The Thursday Murder Club (Viking) has been named W H Smith's Book of the Year for 2020.  Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-11-05 01:31:10 UTC ]
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Pang wins Royal Society Science Book Prize with 'instruction manual for humans'

Dr Camilla Pang has won the £25,000 Royal Society Science Book Prize for her debut Explaining Humans (Viking), written as an instruction manual for a world she had difficulty understanding due to her Autism Spectrum Disorder. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-11-03 02:40:20 UTC ]
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Review: You won't find a romance darker than Susie Yang's 'White Ivy'

Yan's debut novel overturns the tropes of the romance novel in this story about an immigrant's doomed pursuit of marriage and the American dream. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2020-11-02 15:00:30 UTC ]
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Fred Klein, Who Helped Build Bantam Books, Dies at 97

Fred Klein, who helped make Bantam Books a major force in mass market paperback publishing in the 1960s and 1970s, died on October 22. He was described by a former colleague as "the greatest ringmaster the publishing world has ever known.” Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2020-11-02 05:00:00 UTC ]
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Inaugural Staunch Book Prize winner Serong shortlisted again for 2020 award

The first winner of the Staunch Book Prize, Jock Serong, has been shortlisted again for the 2020 award, in a year that sees indie publishers well represented.  Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-11-01 23:27:55 UTC ]
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Hodder Studio pre-empts 'captivating' debut from Buzzfeed editor Obaro

Hodder Studio has pre-empted a "captivating and joyous" debut novel from Buzzfeed editor and writer Tomi Obaro, set in Lagos and following the evolving fates of three best friends. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-10-30 07:36:18 UTC ]
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How to Make a Children’s Book Museum COVID-Compliant

A reader visited the Story Museum in Oxford, England to learn how the space modified its "interactive" exhibits for COVID-19 compliance. Continue reading at Book Riot

[ Book Riot | 2020-10-28 10:36:00 UTC ]
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Headline Review wins auction for Palmer debut

Headline Review has triumphed in a multi-publisher auction for Isaac and the Egg, a debut novel by journalist Bobby Palmer.  Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-10-28 08:45:16 UTC ]
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What debut authors need to know

Publishing a debut novel can be a stressful process for all concerned – not least the authors. Even those who feel prepared and knowledgeable can find themselves coming unstuck. As part of a group of traditionally published authors whose novels hit the shelves in 2020, I’ve experienced all the... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-10-27 11:56:20 UTC ]
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W&N bags former bookseller's 'mind-stretching' debut novel

Weidenfeld & Nicolson has acquired the debut of former bookseller Daniel O’Connor, launching "a startlingly bold new voice". Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-10-26 19:12:42 UTC ]
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Hodder gets 'Who Dares Wins' host Billingham's debut novel

Hodder & Stoughton is to publish "Who Dares Wins" host Mark "Billy" Billingham’s debut novel, after triumphing in a multi-publisher auction.  Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-10-25 21:34:49 UTC ]
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Biddulph, Gray and Patel among Sainsbury’s Children’s Book Award winners

Children's titles from Rob Biddulph, Kes Gray and Serena Patel are among the winners of Sainsbury’s Children’s Book Awards in partnership with BookTrust. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-10-15 18:29:53 UTC ]
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Religion Book Deals: October 14, 2020

Joni Eareckson Tada brings a children’s book about heaven to the Good Book Company, an introduction to African American literature lands at IVP, and more. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2020-10-14 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Obituary: David Gale

Children’s book editor David Gale, who shaped a distinguished roster of award-winning titles and proudly championed works of LGBTQ literature, died on October 9 following a long illness; he was 65. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2020-10-13 04:00:00 UTC ]
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German Book Prize 2020 Goes to Anne Weber

The 2020 German Book Prize was awarded to Anne Weber for her 'breathtaking' and 'epic' biography of Anne Beaumanoir. The post German Book Prize 2020 Goes to Anne Weber appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2020-10-12 18:49:09 UTC ]
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Bärbel Becker’s Frankfurt Event Picks: International Publishing

Bärbel Becker’s selection of events at the 2020 Frankfurt Book Fair, ranging from rights presentations to book prize ceremonies and introductions to international literature. By Hannah Johnson | @hannahsjohnson Noteworthy Sessions in and Around the Trade Show ublishing Perspectives has asked... Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2020-10-12 02:08:45 UTC ]
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