Books by WriteNow alumni
Rashmi Sirdeshpande (Author)
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Diane Ewen (Illustrator)
What would happen if you showed a T-Rex a book?
Well, she wouldn't know what to do with it . . . would she?
A madcap, super silly adventure story rooted in the transformative power of books, created by incredible new picture-book duo Rashmi Sirdeshpande and Diane Ewen
Gareth Peter (Author)
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Garry Parsons (Illustrator)
A funny, heartfelt picture-book celebrating same-sex parents and shared story time, perfect for introducing children to the different kinds of family in the world today.
Set off on a series of incredible adventures with an adorable family as the stories they read burst into colourful life. Battle dragons, dodge deadly dinosaurs, zoom to the moon and explore the world in a hot air balloon, before winding down in a wonderfully cosy bedtime ending.
The bouncy, rhyming, read-aloud text is brought to life by bestselling, award-winning illustrator Garry Parsons, illustrator of The Dinosaur that Pooped series.
'This rhyming picture book celebrating same-sex parents is a gentle and sweet read . . . a wonderful celebration of adoption and the different shapes a family can take!' BookTrust
Rashmi Sirdeshpande (Author)
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Annabel Tempest (Illustrator)
Could you and your friends change the world? This book will inspire you with 15 true stories of groups of amazing humans who've changed the world.
Discover the astonishing things humans can achieve: from the campaign for women's votes, to the efforts to heal the ozone layer. Or travel back to the start of democracy in Ancient Greece, and into space to see the incredible teamwork on the international space station.
Above all, uncover just some of the MANY ways we can work together to change our world - all brought to life with astonishing story-telling and illustration.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are advised that this book contains images and names of deceased persons.
Rashmi Sirdeshpande (Author)
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Annabel Tempest (Illustrator)
Could you be EXTRAORDINARY? This book will inspire you with the real-life stories of extraordinary people, showcasing a total variety of personalities and talents. Whoever you are, and whoever you want to be, read about the extraordinary stories of these 15 people, and decide how YOU will be extraordinary too!
From around the world and throughout history, discover unsung heroes - and some well-known faces - brought to life with astonishing story-telling and illustration.
Meet an artist, scientist, medic, environmentalist, musician, activist, writer, politician, and even a spy . . . above all, discover that there are MANY ways to be extraordinary and to make a real difference in the world.
Featuring the real-life stories of: Aeham Ahmad, David Attenborough, Mo Farah, Keiko Fukuda Sensei, Stephen Hawking, Frida Kahlo, Abdul Kalam, Judith Kerr, Wangari Maathai, Nelson Mandela, David Nott, Michelle Obama, Krystyna Skarbek, Alan Turing, Sau Lan Wu
Gareth Peter (Author)
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Judi Abbot (Illustrator)
A beautiful, heartfelt picture-book adventure and a rare representation of adoption from an authentic voice
This is the dark and starless sky, where just past the moon a planet drifts by.
And this is the planet that's full to the brim, with friendly and caring space people called . . . TIM!
Meet Tim and Tim - a couple who long for a family and set off on a quest to find their very own star child. This joyful, read-aloud adventure is a comforting, soothing read that's ideal just before bedtime. It's also a helpful jumping off point for early conversations about the experiences of LGBTQ+ families for the youngest readers.
From the author of My Daddies and the illustrator of The Perfect Hug and The Biggest Kiss
Burhana Islam (Author)
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Nabi H. Ali (Illustrator)
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Reya Ahmed (Illustrator)
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Saffa Khan (Illustrator)
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Aaliya Jaleel (Illustrator)
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Deema Alawa (Illustrator)
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Aghnia Mardiyah (Illustrator)
Think you know who first thought of the theory of evolution? Ever wondered who created the oldest university in the world? And have you heard the incredible tale of the masked knight - a rebel girl who became a military commander?
Meet just some of the amazing Muslim men and women who have changed our world - from pirate queens, nurses, warriors, scientists, actors, and mathematicians, to courageous ordinary men and women doing extraordinary things. You'll find people you might know, like Malala Yousafzai, Mo Farah and Muhammad Ali, as well as some you might not, such as:
Hasan Ibn Al-Haytham: the first scientist to prove theories about how light travels, hundreds of years before Isaac Newton
Sultan Razia: a fearsome female ruler
G. Willow Wilson: the comic book artist who created the first ever Muslim Marvel character
Ibtihaj Muhammad: the Olympic and World Champion fencer and the first American to compete in the games wearing hijab.
Noor Inayat Khan: the Indian Princess who became a British spy during WWII
Featuring full-colour illustrations by Reya Ahmed, Deema Alawa, Nabi H. Ali, Saffa Khan, Aaliya Jaleel and Aghnia Mardiyah!
Nazneen Ahmed Pathak (Author)
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Sandhya Prabhat (Illustrator)
A spellbinding, epic and heart-racing magical adventure from an exquisite new storytelling talent.
'Ahmed Pathak is a wonderful new voice; the book took her years to write, and it shows in the depth and care of each beat of the story' - Katherine Rundell
'A wonderful writer who paints a thoroughly convincing heroine' - The Daily Telegraph
India, 1855. The British rule, and all across the country, Indian magic is being stamped out.
More terrifying still, people born with magic are being snatched from their homes. Rumour is that they are being taken across the sea - to England - by the all-powerful, sinister Company.
When Chompa's home is attacked and her mother viciously kidnapped, Chompa - born with powerful and dangerous magic that she has always been forbidden from using - must travel to the smoky, bustling streets of East London in search of her. But Chompa will discover far more treachery in London than she had bargained for - and will learn that every act of her rare magic comes with a price . . .
'Cracking pace, fabulous magic system, characters, relationships . . . The whole package' - Louie Stowell
'An unexpected gem of a story . . . A stellar setting, a gut-punch of a twist, and an unforgettable heroine. This has all the hallmarks of classic children's storytelling' - Nizrana Farook
'Phenomenal' - Sophie Anderson
'Dazzling from start to finish' - Abi Elphinstone
'A gripping and spellbinding fantasy woven together with threads of magic, secrets and colonial history . . . An incredible cast of characters and a truly multicultural Victorian London that we don't see often enough' - Rashmi Sirdeshpande
'A wonderfully vibrant debut . . . A vivid magical adventure' - Jasbinder Bilan
Nevin Holness (Author)
Two lives are about to collide.
For fans of dark fantasy like Cemetery Boys, Noughts and Crosses and Threads that Bind from major new YA talent Jamaican British author Nevin Holness
The first time Eli had tried taking magic that wasn’t his, it had wrapped around his palms like razor wire, tight enough that he’d needed stitches. Since then, Eli had bled magic from a soul enough times that he knew the rhythm of it. He knew what kinds of magic to stay away from and which he could upsell, which would get stuck beneath his fingernails and which would crumble and turn to ash if he held on too tightly.
Eli doesn't know who he is or where he came from. What he does know is that he can pluck the magic from a soul like a petal from a flower. And he knows there is nothing he wouldn't borrow, steal or destroy in order to discover his past.
Malcolm knows he can raise the dead with a wave of his hand but all he really wants is to be able to save his mother.
When Eli is sent to track down the legendary fang of the leopard god Osebo, he finds himself entangled with an old and ancient power. Forced to team up, Malcolm and Eli must weave through the cracks of London, unearthing magic that should have stayed buried.
Until finally, they face a power greater than either of them could have imagined: the daughter of Death herself . . .
Raising the dead is easy, living is harder.
Beth Lincoln (Author)
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Claire Powell (Illustrator)
On the day they are born, each Swift is brought before the sacred Family Dictionary. They are given a name and a definition, and it is assumed they will grow up to match. Unfortunately, Shenanigan Swift has other ideas.
So what if her relatives all think she's destined to turn out as a troublemaker, just because of her name? Shenanigan knows she can be whatever she wants - pirate, explorer or even detective.
Which is lucky, really, because when one of the Family tries to murder Arch-Aunt Schadenfreude, someone has to work out whodunit.
With the help of her sisters and cousin, Shenanigan grudgingly takes on the case, but more murders, a hidden treasure and an awful lot of suspects make thing seriously complicated.
Can Shenanigan catch the killer before the whole household is picked off? And in a Family where definitions are so important, can she learn to define herself?
Gaar Adams (Author)
An intimate and illuminating account of queer lives and migration, homemaking and community in the Gulf, from a brilliant new voice in narrative non-fiction
'An eye-opening tour de force' ALEX ESPINOZA
'Exhilarating' SUSAN ORLEAN
'Tender and insightful' MOHAMED TONSY
Upon moving to the Gulf States – where penalties for queer acts include deportation, imprisonment, torture and death – Gaar Adams wants to understand why LGBTQ+ migrants might choose to live amid such peril. He begins riskily gathering interviews outside the tightly controlled state media, leading with what he thinks is a simple question:
Isn't it harder for you to make a life here?
But as unforgettable residents share a kaleidoscope of stories – from uproarious Filipino salon workers throwing secret drag parties to a courageous Pakistani farmhand who helps his compatriots smuggle themselves across borders – deeper questions and fault lines begin to emerge alongside the halting steps into Gaar’s own clandestine relationship.
Weaving intimate and illuminating memoir with unprecedented reportage, Guest Privileges is a decade-long journey of dislocation – not just through the Gulf States, but into the very nature of home, belonging and how we form a life and community.
'Vividly reported and luminously reflective' NADIA OWUSU
'I was captivated and carried' ADAM ZMITH
‘Adams gives a voice to a queer community we hear much about, but little from…offering hope in a world witnessing the concerted rollback of queer rights' HUGO GREENHALGH
Emma Medrano (Author)
Nicki - 30ish, care worker, living in Brighton - is scrolling for her next hook up. A difficult home life, a job that's going nowhere, she seeks solace in random encounters. Amber - 17, college student, lost - desperately needs someone to notice her. She creates 'Kevin', a fake dating profile for a man in his thirties.
Neither Nicki nor 'Kevin' has any idea what they're about to get into. They quickly match, and an unlikely friendship develops, giving each other the validation they both sorely need.
But can you ever truly connect when one of you is a liar?
Emmett de Monterey (Author)
When Emmett de Monterey is eighteen months old, a doctor diagnoses him with cerebral palsy. Words too big for his 25-year-old artist parents and their happy, smiling baby. Growing up in South East London in the 1980s, Emmett is spat at on the street and prayed over at church. At his school for disabled children, he's told he will be expelled if the rumours are true, if he's gay; at his mainstream school, teachers refuse to schedule his classes on the ground floor, and he loses a stone from the effort of getting up the stairs. At ten years old, Emmett is chosen for a first-of-its-kind surgery in America that will 'cure' him, enable him to walk unaided. BBC cameras follow him to a hospital in Connecticut and newspapers talk of miracles. Despite himself, Emmett hopes for a miracle too: to walk, to dance, to not be nervous in wet weather. To have a body that's everyday beautiful, to hold hands in the street. To not be gay, which he believes is another word for loneliness. When the 'miracle' doesn't occur, Emmett must reckon with a world which views disabled people as invisible, unworthy of desire. He must fight to be seen.
Jenny Ireland (Author)
Juliet believes girls like her - girls with arthritis - don't get their own love stories. She exists at the edges of her friends' social lives, skipping parties to play online chess under a pseudonym with strangers around the world. There, she isn't just 'the girl with crutches'.
Ronan is the new kid: good looking, smart, a bad boy plagued by guilt over what happened to his brother Ciaran. Chesslife is his escape; there, he's not just 'the boy with the brother'.
Juliet thinks Ronan thinks someone like Ronan could never be interested in someone like her - and she wouldn't want him to be anyway - he always acts like he's cooler than everyone else.
Little do they know they've already discovered each other online, and have more in common than they think . . .
Manjeet Mann (Author)
Powerful, compassionate and ultimately hopeful. Observer
WINNER OF THE COSTA CHILDREN'S BOOK AWARD 2021 - a trailblazing novel about two teenagers from opposite worlds; The Crossing is a profound story of hope, grief, and the very real tragedies of the refugee crisis.
The sea carries our pain. The stars carry our future.
Natalie's world is falling apart. She's just lost her mum and her brother marches the streets of Dover full of hate and anger. Swimming is her only refuge.
Sammy has fled his home and family in Eritrea for the chance of a new life in Europe. Every step he takes on his journey is a step into an unknown and unwelcoming future.
A twist of fate brings them together and gives them both hope. But is hope enough to mend a broken world?
Mohsin Zaidi (Author)
WINNER of the Polari First Book Prize 2021
WINNER of the LAMBDA 2021 Literary Award for Best Gay Memoir/Biography
A Dutiful Boy is Mohsin's personal journey from denial to acceptance: a revelatory memoir about the power of love, belonging, and living every part of your identity.
Growing up in a devout Muslim household, it felt impossible for Mohsin to be gay. Unable to be open with his family, and with difficult conditions at school, he felt his opportunities closing around him. Despite the odds, Mohsin's perseverance led him to become the first person from his school to attend Oxford University, where new experiences and encounters helped him to discover who he truly wanted to be. Mohsin was confronted with the biggest decision he would ever make: to live the life that was expected of him or to live as his authentic self.
A Guardian, GQ, and New Statesman Book of the Year
'Genuinely inspiring... Beautifully written, dignified and ultimately redemptive, this challenging story abounds with light and love' Attitude | 'An Incredibly important read' Jyoti Patel
Geraldine Quigley (Author)
School is almost over - and for Paddy, Liz, Christy and Kevin it's time to figure out what's next. But before they start the rest of their lives, these teenagers have the 'Cave' - a place to drink, smoke, flirt and listen to punk music. Somewhere to fend off the spectre of the future.
Because this is Derry in 1981, and the streets outside are a war zone. So when a friend is killed, suddenly the choices of who to be and what side to be on are laid starkly before them. New loves and old loyalties are imperiled even as whole lives hinge on a single decision . . .
Emma Smith-Barton (Author)
How can I hold myself together, when everything around me is falling apart?
Neena's always been a good girl - great grades, parent-approved friends and absolutely no boyfriends. But ever since her brother Akash left her, she's been slowly falling apart - and uncovering a new version of herself who is altogether more dangerous.
As her wild behaviour spirals more and more out of control, Neena's grip on her sanity begins to weaken too. And when her parents announce not one but two life-changing bombshells - including that they want her to have an arranged marriage - she finally reaches breaking point. But as Neena is about to discover, when your life falls apart, only love can piece you back together.
Lisette Auton (Author)
Some bonds are built to last forever . . .
When Alpha was a baby, she washed up by the lighthouse at Haven Point, a remote beach alive with wild magic. Alpha was the first foundling - and now the lighthouse at Haven Point has become a ramshackle home for any disabled child or adult who has ever felt excluded from society.
They call themselves the Wrecklings, looting from passing ships with the help of the mermaids who live in their waters, and whispering superstitions to the wind and the waves. Alpha and her gang spend their days adventuring on the shore - and getting into trouble with the grown-ups.
Then one day, everything changes. When Alpha spots a strange light up on the headland and realizes that her beloved family are in danger of being discovered by Outsiders, it sets in motion a chain of events that will change Haven Point forever.
With their home under threat, the Wrecklings must decide what kind of future they want . . . and what they're willing to do to get it.
Charlene Allcott (Author)
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'One of the freshest, funniest, most exciting new voices I’ve read for a long time' JANE FALLON
'Fresh and funny and REAL ... Martha really spoke to me. She will steal everyone's heart!' VERONICA HENRY
'Beautifully written and emotionally intelligent. I rooted for Martha from the start.' Daily Mail
Meet Martha Ross. She dreams of being a singer, but she’s been working in a call centre for far too long. She’s separating from her husband, the father of her son. And she’s moving back home to her parents’ as a single mum, toddler in tow.
Life has thrown her a few lemons . . . but Martha intends to make a gin and tonic. It’s time to become the woman she’s always wanted to be. And at least her mum’s on hand to provide childcare – and ample motherly judgement, of course.
Soon Martha realises that in order to find lasting love and fulfilment, she needs to find herself first . . . But her attempts at reinvention – from writing a definitive wish list of everything she wants in a new man, to half-marathons, business plans and meditation retreats – tend to go awry in the most surprising of ways . . .
A warm, vibrant and painfully funny novel for fans of Why Mummy Drinks, Fiona Gibson and Lucy Vine.
*Also published as The Reinvention of Martha Ross*
Manjeet Mann (Author)
I am restless, my feet need to fly.
Amber is trapped - by her father's rules, by his expectations, by her own fears.
Now she's ready to fight - for her mother, for her sister, for herself.
Freedom always comes at a price.
Charlene Allcott (Author)
Mother: a woman considered in relation to her child or children.
Wife: a woman considered in relation to her spouse.
Shouldn’t there be more?
Alison has built her life around her family. Every day she packs lunches, rushes to work, and breaks up her daughter’s squabbles. She’s bored, restless and hungry for some excitement.
Perhaps the charismatic Frank could be what she’s missing. But is Frank all he makes out to be? And what if a new, glamorous life isn’t quite what she needs?
Praise for Charlene Allcott:
'One of the freshest, funniest, most exciting new voices I've read for a long time.' Jane Fallon
'Fresh and funny and REAL...' Veronica Henry
'Very funny and delightfully relatable - this was a real treat.' Trisha Ashley
Emma Morgan (Author)
Grace has what one might call a 'full and interesting life' which is code for not married and has no kids. Her life is the envy of her friends, but all this time she has been waiting in secret for love to hit her so hard that she would run out of breath, like the way a wave in a rough sea bowls you over, slams you into the sand, and nearly drowns you.
When Grace meets a beautiful woman at a party, she falls suddenly and desperately in love. At the same party, lawyer Annie meets the man of her dreams - the only man she's ever met whose table manners are up to her mother's standards. And across the city, Violet, who is afraid of almost everything, is making another discovery of her own: that for the first time in her life she's falling in love with a woman.
