Published today by Farshore, The Witch in the Woods, the must-read middle-grade novel from Jennifer Killick. Perfect for 9+ fans of R.L.Stine’s Goosebumps and Stranger Things.

"Jennifer Killick has become the go-to horror writer for readers aged nine and over … readers are as likely to howl with laughter as with terror.” – The Sunday Times

Welcome to Hazard. An ordinary town where strangeness is a way of life. A town where sink holes appear with no warning, where people go missing way too often and where things really DO go bump in the night …

All rights with Farshore.

Lavinia Singer, Editor at Faber, acquired UK and Commonwealth rights to Dwell  by Simon Armitage.

The poems in Dwell illuminate and reimagine the ingenious, fragile dwellings of the living creatures around us, and was inspired by the Lost Gardens of Heligan in Cornwall, an ambitious restoration project where history and mystery coexist. In time, these poems will be manifested physically within the Gardens at site-specific locations in different forms  including light installations, sculptures and recorded readings. 

It will be published on 8 May 2025 and is illustrated by Beth Munro.

Suzanne O’Sullivan’s The Age of Diagnosis is published today by Hodder Press.

The boundaries between sickness and health are being redrawn. Mental health categories are shifting and expanding all the time, radically altering what we consider to be 'normal'. Drawing on the stories of real people, as well as decades of clinical practice and the latest medical research, Dr Suzanne O'Sullivan overturns long held assumptions and reframes how we think about illness and health.

All rights with Hodder Press. US publisher is Portfolio/Penguin US. Translation rights placed include Polish, Italian, Japanese, Taiwan and Spanish.

We are thrilled that Kelly McCaughrain’s book, Little Bang has been shortlisted for the Carnegie Prize. Published by Walker Books, Little Bang is a bittersweet Northern Irish romance that takes a new look at teen pregnancy, the magic and mess of first relationships, and a young woman's right to choose her own future.

The Carnegies are the UK’s longest running and best-loved children’s book awards, recognising outstanding reading experiences created through writing and illustration in books for children and young people.

The gripping sequel to the bestselling The Clockwork Conspiracy pitches Isaac and Hattie into a Parisian crime caper when an invaluable item is stolen from the French National Archives. The Forbidden Atlas by Sam Sedgman is published today by Bloomsbury.

Isaac and Hattie have been invited to a high-profile event at the French National Archives in Paris to finally celebrate their achievement in saving time. But as Isaac prepares to make his speech, the lights go out and a single shot is fired.

All rights with Bloomsbury.

We are thrilled that Orlaine McDonald has been awarded the 2025 Kate O’Brien Award by the Limerick Literary Festival. This is an annual award for a debut novel from an Irish female author. The Award is presented as part of the 41^st annual Limerick Literary Festival in Honour of Kate O’Brien. No Small Thing was described as beautifully written, tender, intelligent and compassionate by the judges.

Published by Profile books, translation rights with PFD.

A passionate and provocative re-evaluation of Queen Victoria's relationship with her servant John Brown that uncovers the secrets the royal machine keeps from us, by acclaimed historian Dr Fern Riddell.

Robyn Drury at Ebury Press has acquired the UK and BC rights to Victoria’s Secret.

Award-winning UK Production Company Impossible Factual have secured the factual TV rights to the book.

US and translation rights are represented by PFD.

Dramatisation rights are represented by MGC.

The action of Indiana Jones meets the time travel of Dr Who in Hunt for the Golden Scarab, the first title in the Time Keys series by bestselling award-winner M. G. Leonard. Illustrated in black and white throughout by Manuel Šumberac.

Sim and his mum never live anywhere long. When dangerous strangers appear one night, Sim discovers why. His mum has been keeping secrets: she has the power to open doors in time.

Published today by Macmillan. Rights sold in Germany and the Netherlands. All rights with Macmillan.

Strange Beach is the debut collection from poet and choreographer Oluwaseun Olayiwola.

‘In this exciting debut, the tideline of the poetic phrase is constantly shifting, is forever rebuilt and remade on the shifting sands of language, every grain of a word held up to the light to consider its myriad refractions’
― Andrew McMillan, author of Pity

Oluwaseun (Seun) Olayiwola is a poet, critic, choreographer and performer based in London.

Published today by Fitzcarraldo Editions in the UK and by Soft Skull Press in the US.

Published today by Penguin Books, Swell explores the triumphs and hardships of the journey to new motherhood – through pregnancy, miscarriage, birth and beyond.


Maria Ferguson’s second poetry collection is a raw and powerful documentation of one woman’s experience of becoming a mother. Against a backdrop of the sounds and sensations of daily life, Ferguson observes her body changing and charts a course through loss and wilting house plants, towards recovery, empowerment and renewal.

We are delighted that Orlaine McDonald’s debut novel, No Small Things, has been shortlisted for the Kate O’Brien Award, hosted by the Limerick Literary Festival. The award is given for a debut novel from an Irish female author. The Award will be presented as part of the 41^st annual Limerick Literary Festival in Honour of Kate O’Brien in February 2025.

Congratulations, Orlaine!

Women Poet's Prize and Nan Shepherd Prize winner Nina Mingya Powles will publish a much-anticipated second collection in July 2025 – In the Hollow of the Wave examines Orientalism, art and artmaking in a time of ecological crisis in distinctive poems that are elemental and tactile, shaped by memory and landscapes of the body. Powles’ debut poetry collection, Magnolia, was shortlisted for the Forward Prize for Best First Collection and the Ondaatje Prize.

Auckland University Press will publish the collection in New Zealand.

All other rights represented by PFD.

The awards are open exclusively to writers based in the UK and Ireland, and the category winners will be announced on 14th January 2025. One of these books will be selected as the overall winner and will be awarded the Nero Gold Prize, Book of the Year.

When Livia left her husband and her daughter Mickey, she never imagined Mickey would find her years later, with a daughter of her own. Now, Livia, Mickey, and young Summer must share one small council flat in South London as they learn to look out for each other as much as themselves. Richly drawn and burning with hope and desire, No Small Thing is a novel confronting the complicated power of a mother’s instinct and the damage we can do to the people we love most.

Published today by John Murray, Uncommon People, picks out twenty key songs, delving into the surprising stories behind them and their unlikely creators, Uncommon People takes us back to when Jarvis Cocker became a national hero, Trainspotting was a global hit, fire-starting seemed like a good night out - and it felt as though the revolution was happening.

Uncommon People re-lives the mad exhilaration of what it was like to hear these songs for the very first time - and what it was like to make them.

Translation/US rights with John Murray.

The thrilling conclusion to the Great Fox series, The Great Fox Revealed by Justyn Edwards.

Flick is a magician out of tricks. Every attempt to find her father has so far failed. Flick and her best friend, Charlie, travel to Cornwall, where they believe her father may be hiding in an abandoned museum. But something else is hidden there – the Bell System, the most dangerous magic trick the world has ever seen.

Translation rights with Walker Books. TV rights under option.

Death Rites. published today by Canelo Crime is the first book in the Carla James series by Sarah Ward.

Archaeology professor Carla James takes a job at an elite New England college. On her first day, Carla is asked to represent the department at a murder site. She initially believes there is nothing notable about the scattered debris that surrounds the body, but there is more to the case than meets the eye. Can she uncover the truth before she becomes the next victim?

A dark and tense crime thriller. Perfect for fans of Kathy Reichs and Elly Griffiths.

US/translation rights represented by PFD.

Gary Budden at Influx Press has snapped up Deliverywoman, Eva Wyles’ "perceptive, razor-sharp" debut to be published on 17th April 2025.

"Deliverywoman is a collection of 13 short stories that dive into the complexities of human connection, the pursuit of meaning and modern-day loneliness," the synopsis reads. "Across a diverse cast of characters—from teachers and gas station workers, to hedonistic revellers and wealthy gamers—Wyles explores the strange dimensions of our world using a combination of realist and speculative elements."

Translation and US rights represented by PFD.

Angelo and his friends have faced some truly fearsome foes, from mind-controlling parasites to deadly monsters of the deep and giant spiders to vampire birds … but their adventures aren't over yet!

Dread Wood High is suffering from an infestation of caterpillars. But these are no ordinary caterpillars. It’s Club Loser’s toughest battle to date. It’s all to play for … and everything is at stake.

Published by Farshore, ahead of Jennifer Killick's new series in 2025. All rights with Farshore.

Editorial director Izzy Everington at Profile books has pre-empted Into the Dream Lab: The Science of Nightmares and the Sleeping Mind by dream engineer Dr Michelle Carr, to be published by Profile in the UK and by Holt in the US in the autumn of 2025. Profile said: “Into the Dream Lab is a guide to the science of dreaming and nightmares, and the astonishing impact the dreaming brain has on your waking life.

Carr is the director of the Dream Engineering Laboratory at the University of Montreal and former president of the International Association for the Study of Dreams.

Rights also sold: Dutch (Querido Facto, following a pre-empt), Chinese simplified (Citic)  Russian (MIF).

The longer the distance run, the more women have an edge over their male competitors. Yet, the longer the distance, the less likely women are to start the race.

In this incredible and personal account, established running journalist Jen Benson looks at the science, hidden history, and what it takes to run an ultramarathon - unveiling why women are so well adapted for endurance sports.

Detailing her own account of completing her first 100-mile ultramarathon, Jen brings to the fore the harshness, humour, and personal sacrifice of ultra-running.

Published by Cassell, all rights represented by PFD.

LIfe and Death of the American Worker is published today by Atria/One Signal Publishers.

Winner of the J. Anthony Lukas Work-in-Progress Award, this is an explosive exposé of the toxic labor practices at the largest meatpacking company in America and the immigrant workers who had the courage to fight back.

Richly detailed, fiercely honest, and deeply reported, Life and Death of the American Worker will forever change the way we think about the people who prepare our food.

Time Keys is a blockbusting, time travel, middle-grade mystery series by award-winner M. G. Leonard. Sarah Hughes, Associate Publisher, Fiction, at Macmillan Children’s Books bought world rights from Morgan Green Creatives in a significant six-figure, four-book deal.

The series will launch with Hunt for the Golden Scarab in B-format paperback original on 30 January 2025, with further titles following every six months. The first four titles in the series take readers from Ancient Egypt to Viking Norway, on to Ancient Rome and, finally, to medieval England.

All rights with Macmillan. Film/TV rights with MGC Ltd.

Off-Broadway's Vineyard Theatre has unveiled the remainder of its 2024-2025 season, which will include the U.S. premiere of Haley McGee's Edinburgh Fringe hit Age is a Feeling.

Age is a Feeling, written and performed by McGee, is described as a celebration of "the glorious and melancholy unknowability of human life." The work was a Fringe First Award winner at the 2022 Edinburgh Festival Fringe, where it premiered before playing two sold-out runs at London's SoHo Theatre. Mitchell Cushman will direct the U.S. premiere.

Performances will run September 11-October 13. Vineyard is presenting in association with Alchemation.

Georgina Laycock at John Murray has snapped up Uncommon People: Britpop and Beyond in 20 Songs by journalist Miranda Sawyer. To be published in October 2024.

A "fascinating pop history" exploration of the Britpop musical movement, Uncommon People explores 90s British music through 20 "key" songs, the "surprising stories behind them and their unlikely creators".

Miranda said: "I’m surprised at how much I have enjoyed delving back into my past! Back to a time when interesting outsiders in second-hand blouses, old sportswear and bovver boots used their fantastic tunes and considerable charm to smash into the centre of UK culture and completely change it.”

All rights with John Murray.

an accomplished novel that, in its very attention to the ordinary, is among the most unusual and refreshing debuts I have read this year -- Kieran Goddard ― Guardian

Out today with Profile Books, No Small Things is a beautiful generational novel set on a South London estate.

There's Livia, who has been running for long enough to think her past might never catch up with her. Then Mickey, with no other place to go, she needs the mother who abandoned her.And Summer, who left to roam, finds friends who are willing to give her the attention that Mickey won't. But are they as kind as she thinks they are?

This is a novel about the power and pain of mothering. It crackles with desire, burns with hope and sings in a voice as compelling as it is true.

Farshore will publish Serial Chillers, a spooky middle grade comedy-horror series from award-winning author Jennifer Killick. Sarah Levison, editorial director at Farshore, acquired world rights to three books from Kirsty McLachlan, founder of Morgan Green Creatives literary agency.

The first book in the Serial Chillers series is scheduled for April 2025, with book two due in February 2026 and book three in September 2026. Farshore said: "Serial Chillers is set in the town of Hazard, a place notorious for mysterious disappearances and unexplained disturbances. But to the children trying to grow up there, it’s just their weird and creepy home. As the young people of the town are thrown into a series of life-or-death situations, will they discover the truth behind the horrors of Hazard?"

Translation rights with Farshore.

Everyone in the family had a secret. Which one has proved deadly

When Mallory Dawson gets a call from a former colleague, Elsa, describing a strange scene, she initially thinks nothing of it. The teenage cleaner had gone into clean a holiday cottage in the forest to find a kettle boiling on the Aga, sandwiches half made and the family who were renting it gone.

A tense and atmospheric Welsh crime thriller. Perfect for fans of Clare Mackintosh and Fiona Cummins.

The Vanishing Act is published by Canelo Crime, all rights represented by PFD.

Published today by Usborne, the new series by midgrade author, Clare Povey.

Meet Flo and Joseph Wanderday.

Their mum is one of the world's greatest explorers, but she's gone missing on her latest expedition. When a mysterious stranger appears, they discover the sinister reason for Mum's trip. Flo, Joseph and their friends Funmi and Isaac find a map and follow clues taking them to a secret island to save Mum and expose Titan's fishy plans...

An exciting watery adventure packed with brilliant baddies, bravery, friendship and real passion for protecting the natural world.

Congratulations, Roxanne!

'A gripping narrative of suffering, loss and survival, with music at its heart' Fiona Maddocks

All future, freedom and success lay ahead of young pianist Stephen de Bastion in 1930s Hungary. Life whirled headily around cocktails, romance, applause and the buzz of Budapest late into the night. Then, 1939. Stephen's world disintegrates and this becomes a story of his brutal descent, of his time in labour camps, of Mauthausen and Gunskirchen and the unimaginable horrors he endured during the Holocaust as a man of Jewish descent. Yet, this is also a tale of extraordinary escape ... and the piano, waiting for him. Told by his granddaughter, Roxanne de Bastion, this is an inspiring true story.

Published today by Robinson. All rights represented by PFD.

A novel on consent told in five acts over the course of one weekend.

Cloe and Gertrude and the Jenkins-Bell sisters, Mathilde and Sarah, have never met. They are strangers who share a city.It is Sunday morning. Cloe has woken-up in someone else’s home; Gertrude starts her shift in the pub kitchen, while Mathilde and Sarah are on their way to lunch.

Soon, these four women’s lives will overlap.

Published today by Simon & Schuster, all translation rights represented by PFD.

“A fascinating and intimate portrait of a garden over time … Reading is like being given a rusty key to a beautiful secret garden." - Ben Dark, Author of The Grove

Hidden away behind high stone walls in the centre of London is Lambeth Palace Garden, a 10-acre site that has been continuously cultivated for more than a thousand years. Join Head Gardener Nick Stewart Smith as he unlocks the gates and invites us to wander through a secret garden where nature is at the heart of everything and where a thoughtful approach to gardening creates a haven for all sorts of native wildlife, allowing nature to flourish in the midst of one of the world’s busiest cities.

Published today by The History Press. All translation and US rights with PFD.

This Ragged Grace tells the story of Octavia's journey through recovery from alcohol addiction, and the parallel story of her father's descent into Alzheimer's. Looking back over this time, each of the seven chapters explores the feelings and experiences of the corresponding year of her recovery, tracing the shift in emotion and understanding that comes with the deepening connection to this new way of life. Over the course of this seven-year period, life continues to unfold. Paths are abandoned, people fall ill, waters get choppy, seemingly impossible things are navigated without the old fixes.

Published by Canongate today. All translation/US rights with PFD.

Hodder Press has snapped up a new book from Wellcome Prize-winning neurologist Suzanne O’Sullivan on medical diagnosis.

Executive publisher Kirty Topiwala acquired world all-language rights for The Age of Diagnosis from Morgan Green Creatives in an exclusive submission. It will publish in 2025 as one of the flagship titles on the new imprint.

When we are suffering, it is natural to seek a diagnosis. We want a clear label, understanding and, of course, treatment. But is diagnosis an unqualified good thing? Could it even make us worse instead of better? Through the stories of real people, neurologist Suzanne O’Sullivan will compare the impact of a medical label to the pain of not knowing.

Cassell, part of the Octopus Publishing Group, has made a dash for The Path We Run: The Incredible and Very Personal Story of Women’s Ultrarunning by Jen Benson.

Trevor Davies, publisher, acquired UK and Commonwealth rights from Kirsty McLachlan at Morgan Green Creatives. It will publish on 1st August 2024.

In her book, running journalist Benson looks at the science, hidden history and what it takes personally to run an ultra-marathon. The backbone of the book is Benson’s own story of training for and running her first 100-mile ultramarathon, through the Brecon Beacons (Bannau Brycheiniog).

We are wishing Kerri the happiest of publication days as her book, Cacophony of Bone, is published today by Canongate.

Cacophony of Bone maps the circle of a year - a journey from one place to another, field notes of a life - from one winter to the next. It is a telling of a changed life, in a changed world - and it is about all that does not change. All that which simply keeps on - living and breathing, nesting and dying - in spite of it all. When the pandemic came time seemed to shapeshift, so this is also a book about time. It is, too, a book about home, and what that can mean.

Milkweed will publish in the States and all translation rights are with Canongate.

Hannah Westland at Serpent’s Tail has signed UK and Commonwealth rights to No Small Thing by Orlaine McDonald.

This beautifully written debut captures one year in the lives of three generations of Black British women in one family in South London, the past that tore them apart and the present that has brought them together.

It is about trying to find your place in the world, grappling for a sense of identity and belonging without any solid thing to tether you or guide you. It is about the choices we make when our options are limited, limited by being a woman, poor, Black. It is about how to be a mother when your mothering instinct is gone, or perhaps was never there in the first place. Ultimately, it is about the damage we do to the people we claim to love the most. Publication is scheduled for summer 2024.

Translation rights with PFD.

Published today by Picador, we wish Sarah the happiest of publication days for her memoir, The Archaeology of Loss.

When you find your husband lying dead, you think you will not forget a single detail of that moment. As an archaeologist, I like to get my facts right, and I will try my best to do so, but five years have passed since that day in 2016 and I am excavating my own unreliable memory. I cannot go back and check.

'Extraordinary, unflinching, wonderful, moving' - Nina Stibbe, author of Love, Nina

Although Sarah had devoted her professional life to the study of death and how we grieve, she found that nothing could have prepared her for the reality of illness and the devastation of loss.

Translation rights with PFD.

Andrew Simmons at Birlinn acquired world all-language to Breathe: Seven Life Lessons from the Edge of the World, a memoir by Guinness world-record breaking adventurer Hughes

The book, part memoir, part manifesto, will be published in the summer of 2024. Hughes has explored some of the wildest environments on earth. In 2017, she became the youngest woman in the world to climb both sides of Mount Everest, and in 2020 became the youngest woman to ski solo to the South Pole. With reference to her all-extreme experiences and backed with psychological research, the publisher said: "Breathe encompasses tales of bravery, risk and pressure on an epic scale and expertly turns them into valuable lessons that can be applied to our everyday challenges."

Welcome to Eldey, an island with deadly secrets.

Mona: a carefree artist, staying at the Cloister to work on her illustrations.

Beth: the harried mother of a toddler, on the remote Welsh island for a weekend with her family.

Charlotte: a reluctant stepmother who wanted a romantic getaway with her husband.

One of them is a serial killer who poisoned four of her friends at her eleventh birthday party. They all fit the profile. Who will risk everything to kill again?

An absolutely gripping Welsh crime novel, perfect for fans of Sarah Pearse and Lucy Foley. Out today with Canelo Crime. Congratulations, Sarah!

All translation rights with PFD.

The Great Fox Heist is out today with Walker Books! The stakes are high in this fast-paced mystery adventure starring young magician Flick Lions. The second book in the Great Fox series.

How well do you really know someone...?

Flick is a magician who needs answers. Her father is still missing, and top illusionist the Great Fox doesn't seem interested in finding him, despite his promises. Determined to solve the mystery of her father's disappearance and of The Bell System, his greatest and most mysterious magic trick, Flick must pull off an impossible diamond heist to win. But danger lurks around every corner, and nothing is what it seems.

Congratulations, Justyn!

There's a thief in Aves Wood! M.G. Leonard, internationally bestselling author of Twitch, Beetleboy and Adventures on Trains, returns with the third gripping wildlife mystery for birdwatching detectives The Twitchers!

When the peregrine falcon nest is raided, Twitch realizes a thief is at work. Horrified, he and the Twitchers set out to catch the dangerous criminal, only to be ensnared in a deadly trap. Can they save themselves and stop the villain before anyone gets hurt?

Clutch is a thrilling spring mystery adventure about friendship, bravery and protecting nature. Out today with Walker Books.

Writer and journalist, Alice Driver’s non fiction book, Artists All Around, telling a lifelong friendship between her mother and the writer and illustrator, Maurice Sendak, has sold to Lynn Grady at Princeton Architectural Press.

A narrative of a child and an artist searching for and finding meaning in art. The deal was brokered by Rebecca Wearmouth at PFD, on behalf of Kirsty McLachlan. PAP will publish in Spring 2025.

All translation rights represented by PFD.

Lucy Earley at Walker Books has acquired a YA romance set in Northern Ireland exploring teen pregnancy from Children’s Books Ireland Award winner Kelly McCaughrain. It follows McCaughrain’s award-winning début, Flying Tips for Flightless Birds..

Publishing in January 2024, Little Bang follows shy science nerd Mel and slacker songwriter Sid, who get pregnant unexpectedly on their first date. This is Northern Ireland in 2018, where abortion is still illegal, and suddenly they are facing an impossible decision. Caught between families with conflicting views, Mel and Sid’s relationship starts to fall apart, and Mel finds herself feeling alone with the impossible dilemma of the Little Bang growing inside her.

All US and translation rights represented by PFD.

Rachael Allen at Granta Books acquired UK and Commonwealth rights to Oluwaseun Olayiwola’s debut poetry collection, Strange Beach after a three-way auction.

In poems exploring sex, and love, death and loss, Strange Beach is an examination of being a queer Nigerian-American man, in a different country, far from home. Granta said: is a wrangling of the various selves we hold and perform – across oceans and within relationships – through a highly patterned and textual lyrical play: it is a deeply moving and philosophical tapestry.

Granta magazine will publish several of Oluwaseun’s poems in August. The Guardian also featured Oluwaseun’s poem “Simulacrum” as “Poem of the Week” this week; a poem which Carol Rumens argues “embodies Olayiwola’s fusion of talents”.

All US and translation rights represented by PFD.

Robinson has pre-empted The Piano Player of Budapest: A True Story of Survival, Hope and Music by Roxanne de Bastion, described as “a story about a piano and its most prodigious player – how it, along with him, survived".

Editorial director Emma Smith acquired UK and commonwealth rights in a “swift pre-empt”. The Piano Player of Budapest will publish in hardback, e-book and bespoke audio edition in June 2024.

When her father died, singer songwriter Roxanne de Bastion inherited a piano she knew had been in her family for over 100 years. But it is only when she finds a cassette recording of her grandfather, Stephen, playing one of his compositions, that the true and almost unbelievable history of the piano, this man and her family begins to unravel.

All US and translation rights represented by PFD.

Published today by MUP, Presence explores one of the most curious experiences known to humankind: the universal, disturbing sense that someone or something is there when we are alone – the feeling of an unseen presence. Presence takes us alongside Ernest Shackleton’s expedition crossing South Georgia in 1916, to meet mediums and robots and step through real, imagined and virtual worlds. This compelling story will stoke the fascination of sceptics and ardent believers alike who are drawn to the mystery of the unseen.

St.Martins will publish this month in the States, with Alpina to publish in Russia. All translation rights represented by PFD.

Congratulations, Ben!

Happy publication day to Jennifer Killick and the third book in the Dread Wood series, entitled Flock Horror.

Angelo and his friends know that together they can handle any pretty much anything – including giant mutant spiders or snake-like parasites that burrow into your brain. But when a terrifying new enemy attacks from above it seems they have met their ultimate match . . . how can they defeat giant vampire birds that are after BLOOD?

With summer term in full force – and sports day and prom night on the horizon – the whole school is in danger. The gang need a plan to bring safety to the skies!

All translation rights with Farshore.

We are thrilled that Haley McGee’s show, Age is a Feeling, has been nominated for an Olivier Award for Outstanding Achievement in Affiliate Theatre. Currently showing at the Soho Theatre, Age Is A Feeling wrestles with our endless chances to change course while we’re alive. A covert rallying cry against cynicism and regret. A call to seize our time.

This never-the-same-twice show is a gripping story about how our relationship with mortality shapes the way we live.

Congratulations, Haley!

As the only book award voted for by young people, children from across the UK are now invited to select their favourite books across three categories – Books for Younger Children, Books for Younger Readers and Books for Older Readers.

In the Older Readers category, the shortlisted titles are: Dread Wood (Farshore) by Jennifer Killick; The Light In Everything (Bloomsbury) by Katya Balen; and While The Storm Rages (Andersen Press) by Phil Earle.

The winners will be announced at an awards ceremony on Saturday 10th June.

Stone Will Answer is an unusual adventure story of resilience and homecoming, of weight and motion, of rediscovering love and faith, and of journeys practical, spiritual and geological. A captivating blend of exploration, memoir and myth, and an insight into a beguiling craft, it asks what lessons might be learned from stone, what we choose to carry with us and what we return to put down or pick up again. Published by Harvill Secker, this is Beatrice Searle’s first book.

A gifted writer, capable of luminous description ― Spectator

Congratulations, Bea!

Publishing in spring 2024, The Clockwork Conspiracy is the first book in the Isaac Turner Investigates series and Sedgman’s first solo middle-grade project. Ellen Holgate, head of fiction at Bloomsbury, acquired world rights in three books from Kirsty McLachlan at Morgan Green Creatives in a significant six-figure pre-empt.

The Clockwork Conspiracy is the story of aspiring inventor Isaac Turner, who lives with his dad, the chief horologist in charge of Big Ben. When Isaac’s father vanishes from the belfry on the night the clocks go back, leaving behind only a smashed pocket watch and a cryptic message, Isaac determines to find him. Hunting a trail of clues through London’s landmarks, Isaac uncovers a sinister plot in the gears of government and must race against time to save his father – and time itself.

Congratulations, Sam!

At the stroke of midnight on the dawn of December, five-year-old Finn Albedo is found frozen in the city park on a pedestal of ice. The doctor says his heart is beating, but no one can wake him.

Can Bianca remember her mission and find a way to save her brother and the other Ice Children before all their hearts are lost forever? A future classic with a powerful message at its core.

Released in audio, by Audible Original today.

Sarah Levison, editorial director, acquired world rights to Read, Scream, Repeat for readers aged nine to 12. It will publish in September 2023. The stories encompass everything from a ghostly graveyard discovery to mysterious beasts of the deep, flesh-eating aliens that lurk in the shadows and a birthday party that you really don’t want an invitation to.

Authors include Aisha Bushby, J T Williams, current Waterstones Children’s Laureate Joseph Coelho and Waterstones Prize winners Elle McNicoll and Sharna Jackson, alongside Kirsty Applebaum, Jasbinder Bilan, Rachel Delahaye, Kat Ellis, Phil Hickes, Polly Ho-Yen, Dan Smith and Killick herself.

The prize-winning Adventures on Trains series embarks on a thrilling sixth adventure as Harrison Beck and Uncle Nat climb aboard the night train to Narvik, travelling to the Arctic Circle to see the northern lights for Christmas.

But as their train leaves Stockholm, Hal and Uncle Nat realize they’re being followed by a sinister figure, and Hal’s powers of observation are tested when Uncle Nat’s past comes back to haunt him. Journeying into the never ending night of the arctic winter, our railway detectives must outsmart an assassin in their most chilling adventure yet, in which nothing is as it seems.

Published today by Macmillan, The Arctic Railway Assassin, is the last book is this bestselling series.

Out today, in Eve Bites Back, Anna Beer investigates the lives and achievements of eight women writers, uncovering a startling and unconventional history of literature

From the fourteenth century through to the present day, women who write have been understood as mad, undisciplined, or dangerous. Female writers have always had to find ways to overcome or challenge these beliefs. Some were cautious and discreet, some didn’t give a damn, but all lived complex, eventful, and often controversial lives.

Published by Oneworld Publications.

Commissioning editor Siân Heap has acquired World English Language rights to a new crime series by Sarah Ward in a three-book deal.

The Birthday Girl is the first book in a new crime series featuring former-Met police officer Mallory Dawson who moves to the remote Welsh island of Eldey to take up the position of night manager at a boutique hotel. As an odd assortment of guests gather and a storm hits the island, and the body count climbs, Mallory is in a race against time to work out which of her guests is the ‘Birthday Girl’.

Sarah Ward is a critically acclaimed crime and gothic thriller writer.

The Birthday Girl will be published in April 2023. Translation rights are represented by PFD.

Scotland is famed for its rugged coastlines, pristine beaches, endless rivers and deep lochs. From the Highlands to the Islands, from the east coast to the west coast, the whole country is an unreported mecca for wild water sports. A guide to the very best locations - with personal experiences and tips. Mollie Hughes is a world record-breaking sports adventurer, mountaineer, polar explorer and international motivational speaker.

Photos by Rachel Keenan. Published by Birlinn. All rights with the publisher.

There’s a new craze at Dread Wood High. Flinch is a game of fear. The more you scare your friends, the more points on the app you get. At first it’s fun, but soon fun is replaced by fear. And Angelo and his friends notice that everyone is behaving more and more strangely every day – almost as if something is taking over their brains…

“Deliciously scary and hilarious comedy-horror, perfectly pitched for eight-plus.”

The Guardian

Congratulations, Jennifer!

M.G. Leonard, internationally bestselling author of Twitch, Beetleboy and Adventures on Trains, is back with another thrilling wildlife mystery for birdwatching detectives The Twitchers!

When Jack rescues a wounded cat, he quickly suspects foul play. Could there be a wildlife criminal on the loose in Briddvale? Jack rushes to investigate, determined to catch the culprit, only to stumble into a deepening mystery and a sinister criminal plot.

Can Jack and The Twitchers stop the villains before it's too late?

Congratulations, Maya!

When Herbie and Violet's arch-enemy Sebastian Eels turns up in Eerie-on-Sea, seemingly back from the dead, it can only spell bad news. And when they learn the legend of Ludo Festergrimm the clockmaker, creator of a vast mechanical robot that wrought havoc in the wrong hands, they KNOW they're on the right track. But how can they get the residents of Eerie-on-Sea to believe them?

The fourth book in the wonderful Eerie-on-Sea Mystery series. The first book, Malamander, was published to huge acclaim in 2019 and the series has been translated into 20 different languages to date.

Congratulations, Thomas!

Haley McGee’s new one-woman show is the never-the-same-twice show - a gripping story about how our relationship with mortality shapes the way we live - from your 25th birthday through to your death. Seminal moments. Rites of passage. And all the things unsaid. Inspired by hospices, mystics and trips to the cemetery, Age Is a Feeling wrestles with our endless chances to change course while we're alive.

Catch it at Soho Theatre between 6th-24th September.

★★★★★ ‘as breathtaking as it is moving’ - The Guardian

★★★★★ ‘ingenious’ - The Telegraph

★★★★★ ‘by turns hilarious and deeply moving’ - FairyPoweredPro

Can a tiny caravan provide the space to rebuild a life?

‘Life-affirming, soul-shaking, heart-breaking… A book that reminds us what it means to be alive.’ Kerri ní Dochartaigh, author of Thin Places

An intimate journal across the space of a defining summer, Thunderstone is celebration of the people and places that hold us when the storms gather; an invitation to approach life with imagination and to embrace change bravely.

Published by Elliott & Thompson, all rights with the publisher.

Bastien Bonlivre is in trouble again. His sworn enemy, Olivier Odieux, has escaped jail and is after Bastien once more.

Meanwhile, trouble is also brewing in Paris. Fires are burning, and danger lurks at every corner. Who could be behind this? As clues start piling up, Bastien and his friends Theo, Alice and Mathilde must set off on a risky treasure hunt to track down the answers they so desperately need. Because if they don't find them, it won't just be Bastien who is in danger...

"A charming and bookish tale of friendship, villainy and the power of stories." Thomas Taylor, author of Malmander

Published by Usborne.

Expectation meets Julie and Julia, The Yellow Kitchen is a brilliant exploration of food, belonging and friendship.

London E17, 2019. A yellow kitchen stands as a metaphor for the lifelong friendship between three women: Claude, the baker, goal-orientated Sophie and political Giulia. Exploring the complexities of female friendship, The Yellow Kitchen is a hymn to the last year of London as we knew it and a celebration of the culture, the food and the rhythms we live by.

Published by Simon & Schuster, and chosen as July’s Independent Bookshop book of the month, US/translation rights represented by PFD.

Congratulations, Margaux!