Archive for the Category »Press Releases «
In honour of Mental Health Awareness Month in the USA Terri Morgan has decided to reduce her novel, Playing The Genetic Lottery, to 99c in the US and 77p in the UK. Here is the press release Terri put together for this discount event:
“One out of every four people will be affected by mental illness during their lifetime. Despite its prevalence few people know much about mental illness beyond the old stereotypes, misinformation, and rumors. Unfortunately, due to the stigma associated with mental illness, many people are too ashamed or embarrassed to seek help for themselves or their loved ones.
National Mental Health Awareness Month was started in 1949 to help educate and inform people about depression, bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. And one of the best ways to learn about a topic is to read a true-to-life novel about it. With that in mind,, the author of a novel about schizophrenia has reduced the price of her e-book during the month of May.
Playing the Genetic Lottery, a novel by Terri Morgan, will be available on Amazon.uk for 77 pence and at Amazon.com for $.99 for the entire month. The novel is a fictional memoir of a strong and resilient wife and mother who grew up with two parents who were living with schizophrenia. This touching, poignant and heartwarming novel dispels many of the misconceptions surrounding schizophrenia. The novel also touches on depression and bipolar disorder, as well as treatments for mental illness.
“Novel can help enlighten and educate people while entertaining them. One of my goals in writing Playing the Genetic Lottery—aside from creating a good read—was to educate people about schizophrenia and the impact it has on families,” Morgan said. “My hopes are by raising awareness about mental illness I can raise compassion for people who are living with schizophrenia, and help reduce the stigmas associated with mental illness.”
“Although Playing the Genetic Lottery is a novel, I worked hard to weave accurate information about the disease into the book,” Morgan said. I wanted to raise compassion, but not at the expense of individuals living with schizophrenia. So I was both relieved and honored when Ashley Smith, the founder of Embracing My Mind, wrote a wonderful review about my book. You can read her review HERE“
Playing the Genetic Lottery will be available for 99 cents at Amazon USA from May 1 to May 31, 2013.
Playing the Genetic Lottery will be available for 99 cents at Amazon UK from May 1 to May 31, 2013.
For more information about the novel, click HERE
Publication Date: 4th July 2013
Paperback Original and EBook Price: £6.99
Published by: Bloomsbury
From the author of Breathing Underwater, Bringing the Summer and Drawing with Light comes a tale of broken hearts and friendship. This Northern Sky tells the story of a family at breaking point set against a backdrop of remote island life.
Kate’s parents are taking her on holiday with them to a cottage on a remote island in the Hebrides.
Kate can’t imagine anything more boring. But underneath her sulkiness, Kate is scared. Her parents have been fighting and she knows that this holiday is make or break for them. Once at the cottage, Kate escapes – outside, anywhere. And there she meets the warmth of the islanders, who are prepared to accept her and to listen to her. And possibly fall in love with her . . .
Julia Green is a truly inspirational writer. She tackles complex family issues with a deft hand and gets under the skin of her characters, skilfully bringing to life the emotional rollercoaster of teenage years. Captivating, emotionally turbulent and utterly unputdownable, this is the perfect summer read.
Julia is a Senior Lecturer in Creative Writing at Bath Spa University, and is the Course Director for the MA in Writing for Young People. Her students have included prize-winning Sally Nicholls, MarieLouise Jensen, Lucy Christopher and Elen Caldecott. Julia lives in Bath.
Praise For BRINGING THE SUMMER:
‘[Julia Green] has built up a well-deserved reputation for her perfectly crafted, sensitive stories. Bringing the Summer is another beautifully assured and affecting novel that will appeal as much to adults as it does to young people’ Books for Keeps
‘I just loved this story. It’s tender and absorbing and truthful and it will appeal to a wide range of readers’ The Bookbag
‘Bringing the Summer is the first Julia Green book I have read and if it is anything to go by I have been seriously missing out’ Fiction Fascination
‘A great read that really made me feel happy and I just absolutely loved it’ A Daydreamer’s Thoughts
‘In Julia Green I’ve found a new British author who I only wish I’d discovered before. Her writing is a real treat’ A Dream of Books
‘In Bringing the Summer I think Bloomsbury may have found this generation’s Judy Blume’ What Sarah Reads
‘The touching and romantic story of a bright heroine movingly and carefully navigating the complexities of falling in love is compelling reading’ Julia Eccleshare Love Reading 4 Kids
Praise For BREATHING UNDERWATER:
‘Never has that sun-soaked, salt-crusted sense of summer well-being been better described’ Guardian
‘Elegiacally, and with great pathos and skill, Green charts a girl’s passage from innocence to experience, from grief to acceptance’ Financial Times
‘The writing is rich in wild flowers, bays and barbecues’ Telegraph
‘Skilful and memorable, Breathing Underwater is as enjoyable for adult readers as for the teenage girls who will undoubtedly love it’ Armadillo
Praise For DRAWING WITH LIGHT:
‘A depth of emotional charge sears through this quietly understated story. Blood relationships and new family bonds are played against one another, but it is the minutiae of life so deftly observed that truly makes this novel shine.’ Bookseller
‘This is a sensitive and assured novel about the time in young people’s lives when they start to crave a sense of identity, and need straight answers to big questions about who they are’ Books for Keeps
‘A subtle, sensitive and tender book and I would highly recommend it to teenagers of any age’ Bristol Review of Books
‘Julia Green has a beautiful writing style. Emily’s story is written in fluid, lyrical prose that perfectly captures Emily’s ever-changing emotions’ So Many Books, So Little Time
It is with great pride and pleasure we bring to you today the Second issue of our magazine Reader’s Shadow! We are very proud of this months publication and we hope you enjoy it too.
We would love it if you could like and share our publication.
It is with great pride and pleasure we bring to you today the FIRST copy of our magazine Reader’s Shadow! We are very proud of our publication and we hope you enjoy it too.
We would love it if you could like and share our publication.
Random House Children’s Publishers launches new teen website TotallyRandom
TotallyRandom books, a new website aimed at teen and YA readers, launches today by Random House Children’s Publishers (RHCP). Over the past 3 years RHCP has built an active teen community via Facebook and teen mailing lists and the new site provides a platform to grow this community, connecting readers from some of RHCP’s most successful teen brands including Lauren Kate, Christopher Paolini and Malorie Blackman, and introducing them to up and coming teen and YA authors.
The design and content of the site has been shaped by two surveys run by the Consumer Insight team using the RHCP teen mailing list. From the surveys, RHCP now has a group of over 200 TotallyRandom VIPs who receive exclusive previews. A key element of the site is discoverability – the second survey was entirely focused on how teenagers talk about books. RHCP are using the most popular terms that teens used as signposts across the site which will help users to engage with and discover books relevant to them. The site was designed and built in-house by Simon Wilkes in the group digital team.
The site launches with a feature on Jenny Downham before the forthcoming release of the Now is Good film adaptation of her YA novel, Before I Die.
Suzanne Riley, Digital Marketing Manager, comments ‘The launch of our new TotallyRandom books website gives us a fantastic hub to connect and build our existing teen and YA book-loving communities that already exist on social media. It will allow us to introduce fans of existing YA brands to new authors, as well as featuring exclusive and user-generated content. The design and functionality of TotallyRandom has been shaped by consumer insight work with a teen reader panel, which we hope will lead to strong levels of engagement and discoverability across the site. We are now exploring opportunities to work with partner sites to engage new readers, and we will continue to shape content and features based on regular feedback from our users.’
In 2011 the streets of London witnessed the worst violence in over 25 years. Suggested contributing factors included family breakdown, social breakdown, poor relations with the police and unemployment. A YouGov poll was carried out on 8–9 August 2011 for The Sun asking what those surveyed believed to be the main cause of the riots. In it, 26% of those polled thought “gang culture” to be the main cause. In particular, young people were singled out by media and politicians as those responsible.
One year on, Random House and Live Magazine have teamed up to create two short videos focussing on what has changed for young people over the last year, and what positives have come out of the 2011 riots. The first film shows LIVE contributors debating the issues, one year on, in a variety of locations. They are sitting in the high street, asking whether or not adults are obsessed by the riots; they’re drinking coffee in a cafe, talking about whether the riots politicised young people; and they’re at the bus stop, asking whether the riots opened up new, positive platforms for young people.
The film also contains a specially-commissioned new poem from LIVE contributor Clarissa Pabi, who was singled out by Michelle Obama on the First Lady’s visit to Oxford in May last year. The film can be viewed HERE
The second film is a conversational piece between author John Lucas and 17 year old Monique Howell one of the young contributors from Live talking about his book TURF, and about the gang context of the riots in more depth.The second film can be viewed HERE
To coincide with the anniversary of the riots, Bodley Head will be publishing TURF, which explores issues of teenage gang violence on the streets of London and the issues that lead these youths to makes the choices they do. Author John Lucas was born and raised in Hackney and has been both a witness to and a victim of street violence. He was heavily influenced by the glut of stories about gang violence and knife crime in the press while writing TURF and this along with his own personal experience of growing up and living in Hackney led him to write a story which reflects the lives of many inner -city teens living in today’s society.
John Lucas says ‘‘I have a lot of sympathy for people caught up in that world, partly because of my own experiences, but also because I think our unbalanced society is more to blame than they are. I don’t believe the riots would have happened, and I don’t believe gang violence would be anywhere near the issue it is if there were more opportunities out there and people had a better quality of life. Dealing with that should come first before people point the finger. It’s a theme that runs through both the issues in Turf and the fallout from the riots. Also, far too much one-dimensional demonization goes on, both in fiction and in the media, and I felt there was a gap there for a different take on those issues.’
About Random House Children’s Publishers UK: RHCP is an award-winning publisher for children of all ages. Its bestselling authors include Sir Terry Pratchett, Philip Pullman, Dame Jacqueline Wilson, Lauren Kate, Christopher Paolini and Joe Delaney and illustrators Quentin Blake, Shirley Hughes, Louise Yates and Nadia Shireen. It is home to successful series such as Astrosaurs and Battersea Dogs and its licensed properties include Transformers Prime and Spiderman, RHCP also holds the current DreamWorks publishing licence. The company is proud to publish five of the Children’s Laureates. RHCP is developing a range of innovative digital publishing projects, including the Mortal Kiss story serialisation which ran with Stardoll and won a Digital Innovation Award. RHCP is part of The Random House Group owned by Bertelsmann, one of the world’s largest media groups.
About LIVE: LIVE Magazine is a media hub run by under 24s. This includes a 50,000 print-run national magazine, a website
and YouTube site that has had over a million views. LIVE Magazine has been running for 11 years and is published by youth engagement agency Livity from their Brixton offices.
BODLEY HEAD IS PROUD TO BE PUBLISHING TURF, THE DEBUT NOVEL FROM AUTHOR JOHN LUCAS
PUBLISHED ON THE ANNIVERSARY OF THE LONDON RIOTS, TURF IS A STORY ABOUT TEENAGERS, URBAN GANGS AND STREET VIOLENCE
In 2011 the streets of London witnessed the worst violence in over 25 years. The riots spread to other major UK cities including Bristol, Manchester, Birmingham and Liverpool. Suggested contributing factors included family breakdown, social breakdown, poor relations with the police and unemployment. A YouGov poll was carried out on 8–9 August 2011 for The Sun asking what those surveyed believed to be the main cause of the riots. In it, 26% of those polled thought “gang culture” to be the main cause. On the anniversary of the riots, Bodley Head will be publishing TURF, which explores issues of teenage gang violence on the streets of London and the issues that lead these youths to makes the choices they do.
John Lucas was born and raised in Hackney and has been both a witness to and a victim of street violence. He was heavily influenced by the glut of stories about gang violence and knife crime in the press while writing TURF and this along with his own personal experience of growing up and living in Hackney led him to write a story which reflects the lives of many inner -city teens living in today’s society.
John Lucas says ‘‘I have a lot of sympathy for people caught up in that world, partly because of my own experiences, but also because I think our unbalanced society is more to blame than they are. I don’t believe the riots would have happened, and I don’t believe gang violence would be anywhere near the issue it is if there were more opportunities out there and people had a better quality of life. Dealing with that should come first before people point the finger. It’s a theme that runs through both the issues in Turf and the fallout from the riots. Also, far too much one-dimensional demonization goes on, both in fiction and in the media, and I felt there was a gap there for a different take on those issues.’
TURF tells the story of a boy caught up in an urban gang who is forced to make a choice which will change not only the rest of his life but also the lives of all those around him. TURF is a story about loyalty, honour and above all about consequence.
TURF by JOHN LUCAS – Published by Bodley Head 2nd August 2012 – TPB £9.99
The Mystery Of Wickworth Manor By Elen Caldecott
Publication Date: 5th July 2012
Price: £5.99
Available in paperback original and eBook format
‘Funny . . . poignant . . . hilarious’ Julia Donaldson on Operation Eiffel Tower
Elen Caldecott excels at writing contemporary adventures that tap into issues faced by modern children. In The Mystery of Wickworth Manor she delivers an exciting adventure with lots of humour and action, which also explores the history of the slave trade.
Paige Owens, bright, cheeky, confident, cannot wait to go to secondary school. Curtis Okafor, wary and much less confident, is not so sure. The only thing they share in common is the first letter of their surnames, which ensures they are forced into each other’s company on a school trip to Wickworth Manor, the local stately home.
On his first night at Wickworth Manor, Curtis finds a portrait in his bedroom of a young black servant. Why is the portrait hidden in the bedroom, and not in pride of place alongside the other portraits in the manor? Then Paige finds an intriguing letter, written over 200 years ago by Miss Verity Burton, who used to live at the Manor, that mentions the portrait. There is a mystery begging to be unravelled! So Paige and Curtis, in their very different ways, start work to find out what happened all those years ago . . .
Elen Caldecott graduated with an MA in Writing for Young People from Bath Spa University. At the end of the course she was highly commended in the PFD Prize for Most Promising Writer for Young People. Before becoming a writer, she was an archaeologist, a nurse, a theatre usher and a museum security guard. It was while working at the museum that Elen realised there is a way to steal anything if you think about it hard enough. Elen either had to become a master thief or create some characters to do it for her – and so her debut novel, How Kirsty Jenkins Stole the Elephant, was born.
Elen’s books have been nominated for the Branford Boase Award, the Carnegie Medal and the Waterstone’s Children’s Book Prize as well as 18 regional awards including the Sheffield Children’s Book Award, for which she was Highly Commended, and The Lennoxlove Author Award, which she won. Elen lives in Bristol with her husband, Simon.
Also by Elen Caldecott: How Kirsty Jenkins Stole the Elephant, How Ali Ferguson Saved Houdini and Operation Eiffel Tower.
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Elens Awesome Adventures Award (launching July 2012)
PRAISE FOR OPERATION EIFFEL TOWER:
‘Perfect for Jacqueline Wilson fans’ The Bookseller
‘Elen Caldecott has written a light and funny story without trivialising or sensationalising a difficult subject. She avoids merely tackling an issue and instead has produced a very readable and warm story’ The Scotsman
‘One of the strengths of Elen Caldecott’s breezy stories for 7 – 11s is that they show successful unconventional families’ Sunday Times
‘This down-to-earth story reflects on the increasing problem of family break-up and its effect on children. While there is no happy-ever-after sentimentality, the conclusion is beautifully done. A skilful coming-to-terms read for confident readers age 12+’ Irish Examiner
‘Warm, funny and bitter-sweet’ Teach Primary
PRAISE FOR HOW ALI FERGUSON SAVED HOUDINI:
‘Elen Caldecott’s second novel is a perfect example of the kid detective genre. The core mystery is satisfyingly plotted, with the clues coming at the right pace. The level of threat is well judged, and the dialogue salty and smart’ Financial Times
‘Full of humour, nail-biting situations and a cast of credible characters, this is one of those rare books that, once begun, will not be put down until the last page has been read’ Irish Examiner
‘There is an old-fashioned, almost Blyton-esque charm to this fun detective story’ Angels & Urchins
‘Elen Caldecott has done it again! Hard to believe she’s managed another book as amusing and insightful as How Kirsty Jenkins Stole the Elephant, but here it is!’ The Bookbag
‘A kind of Famous Five – minus one – except more pc and more working class and up-to-date’ Bookwitch
PRAISE FOR HOW KIRSTY JENKINS SAVED THE ELEPHANT:
‘Its ingenious ideas, humour and clear, unfussy style keep the pages turning speedily to the feel-good conclusion, which is moving without being mawkish. It will prompt the most enjoyable tears’ Sunday Times
‘This is a funny, lively and touching book . . . Caldecott has created a thoroughly modern heroine in Kirsty Jenkins’ Observer
‘Caldecott weaves two complex themes into her humorous, action-packed plot with sensitivity and a light hand . . . it is vigorously and freshly imagined’ Books for Keeps
‘This is a beautiful book that had me laughing and crying throughout. An absolute must read’ Liz Kessler for Junior Education
A surreal, creepy, spine-shivering tale peopled with characters from your worst nightmares! Childhood will never be the same again…
GRYMM by Keith Austin
Published in Paperback, by Red Fox, 5th July, 2012, £6.99
Something stirred in the gravelly yard beneath their window . . . A soft slippery nuzzle, the sort of sounds you’d expect a pig to make with its snout in a trough . . .
The small mining town of Grymm perched on the very edge of the Great Desert is the kind of town you leave – but when Dad gets a three-month contract in the mine there, Mina and Jacob, unwilling stepbrother and sister, are reluctantly arriving.
From a grotesque letting agent who seems to want to eat their baby brother, a cafe owner whose milkshakes contain actual maggots and the horribly creepy butcher, baker and candle-maker, Mina and Jacob soon realize that nothing in Grymm is what it appears to be.
And then things get seriously weird when their baby brother disappears – and no one seems to even notice! In Grymm, your worst nightmares really do come true . . .
Dark, nightmarish, and punctuated with pitch-black humour, GRYMM is a world worthy of Roald Dahl and Tim Burton – or the original Grimm Brothers themselves. Scarily real but with a dark twist, this terrific debut novel will have kids reading in appalled fascination.
A Cockney born and bred, Keith Austin’s first job involved standing waist deep in a vat full of live eels! He quickly turned to journalism and began an international career which has taken him from The Sunday Times in London, via the China Daily newspaper in Beijing, to the Sydney Morning Herald where he was chief sub before turning to writing. He is now concentrating full time on writing.
Find out more about Keith HERE
STRAVAGANZA ~ CITY OF SWORDS By Mary Hoffman
Publication Date: 5th July 2012
Paperback and eBook Price: £6.99
Travel through time and space to sixteenth-century Italy for the heart-stopping conclusion to Mary Hoffman’s thrilling, magical Stravanganza sequence.
Desperately unhappy, Laura has resorted to secretly self-harming. But Laura is a Stravagante, somebody who can travel in time and space. When she finds her talisman, a small silver dagger, she stravagates with it to sixteenth-century Fortezza, a town similar to Lucca in Italy, where she meets her Stravagante, who is a swordsmith. But Laura also meets the charming and attractive Ludo, and falls for him. Their love for each other is tested when Ludo lays claim to the crown of Fortezza, and Laura finds herself fighting on the side of the Stravaganti opposing him . . .
A thrilling tale filled with battles on the field and battles of the heart, which finishes with a long-awaited wedding between two much loved characters.
Mary Hoffman is an acclaimed children’s author and critic. She is the author of the internationally bestselling picture book Amazing Grace and many historical fiction titles including David, Troubadour (shortlisted for the Costa Book Award) and The Falconer’s Knot (shortlisted for the Guardian Fiction Award and winner of the French Prix Polar Jeunesse 2009). Mary lives with her husband in Oxfordshire.
MARY HOFFMAN IS AVAILABLE FOR INTERVIEW
Praise for the Stravaganza sequence
Praise for City of Masks: ‘A poignant, touching and exciting novel . . . without doubt a masterwork of contemporary children’s literature’ Booktrust
Praise for City of Stars: ‘A fabulous story of power, intrigue and flying horses. This is story-telling at its best’ The Bookseller
Praise for City of Flowers: ‘I was barely allowed to finish it before my god-daughter snatched it away with breathless anticipation. “It’s so real!” she drooled’ Independent
Praise for City of Secrets: ‘An absolute triumph’ School Librarian Praise for City of Ships: ‘A breathtaking time-travel story to a parallel world that’s packed with non-stop action, pirates and drama . . . it will electrify and delight. Intrigue, adventure, magic and excitement are the trademark ingredients for this series’ Julia Eccleshare, Love Reading 4 Kids
@LCrinamorte
@ARossiDuchessa
#stravaganza
#CityofSwords
PRAISE FOR DAVID:
‘Mary Hoffman has written an elegant novel which is totally believable, witty, and hard to put down’ Daily Mail
‘This is a meaty, satisfying piece of work, astute and convincing’ Telegraph
‘An engrossing political murder-mystery for budding art historians’ Times
‘David brings a sexy immediacy to the creation of a sculptural marvel’ Financial Times
‘A rich tapestry of a novel, full of romance, spies, politics and murder’ The Bookseller
For more information please contact Emma Bradshaw on email
Bloomsbury Publishing Plc, 50 Bedford Square, London WC1B 3DP Website
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