Young Adult Books in the News

'ONLY EVER YOURS' WINS FIRST PRIZE IN UK AND IRELAND TO SPECIFICALLY FOCUS ON FICTION FOR YOUNG ADULTS

'Only Ever Yours' by Louise O'Neill has managed to beat 9 other YA books on a list of books competing for the first ever prize set up in UK and Ireland that focuses on fiction for young adults. The prize has been set up by book trade magazine the 'Bookseller'.

According to the back cover the story is about Freida and Isabel who have been best friends their whole lives. Now, aged sixteen and in their final year at the school, they expect to be selected as companions - wives to wealthy and powerful men. The alternative - life as a concubine - is too horrible to contemplate. But as the intensity of the final year takes hold, the pressure to remain perfect becomes almost unbearable. Isabel starts to self-destruct, putting her beauty - her only asset - in peril. And then, the boys arrive, eager to choose a bride. Freida must fight for her future - even if it means betraying the only friend, the only love, she has ever known...

The nine other shortlisted books were:

Goose by Dawn O’Porter (Hot Key Books)
Salvage by Keren David (Atom/Little, Brown)
Ghosts of Heaven by Marcus Sedgwick (Orion)
Trouble by Non Pratt (Walker)
Lobsters by Lucy Ivison and Tom Ellen (Chicken House)
Finding a Voice by Kim Hood (O’Brien Press)
Say Her Name by James Dawson (Hot Key Books)
A Song for Ella Grey by David Almond (Hodder Children’s Books)
Half Bad by Sally Green (Penguin)

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'Paper Towns' by  John Green In Cinemas in July

From the bestselling author of 'The Fault in our Stars', this 2013 book by John Green, is set to hit screens in July in the UK. The story is about Quentin Jacobsen who has always loved Margo Roth Spiegelman, for Margo (and her adventures) are the stuff of legend at their high school. So when she one day climbs through his window and summons him on an all-night road trip of revenge he cannot help but follow.

But the next day Margo doesn't come to school and a week later she is still missing. Quentin soon learns that there are clues in her disappearance and that they are for him. But as he gets deeper into the mystery - culminating in another awesome road trip across America - he becomes less sure of who and what he is looking for.

The film will delight fans of model Cara Delvigne who features as Margo in the film. This will be her first lead role.

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