Tangleweed and Brine wins BGE Award 2017
November 2017
We are so happy to announce that Deirdre Sullivan's dark, feminist fairy tale collection, Tangleweed and Brine, has won the Eason Teen & Young Adult Book of the Year at the BGE Irish Book Awards!
The beautiful collection is illustrated by Karen Vaughan and is published by Little Island Books.
Congratulations, Deirdre!
BGE Irish Book Awards 2017
November 2017
We are so thrilled that 3 of our authors have been nominated for a BGE Irish Book Award 2017!
John Connolly's outstanding, experimental novel he is nominated in two categories: the RTE Radio 1 Listener's Choice Award and Eason's Book Club Novel of the Year.
Deirdre Sullivan's Tangleweed and Brine is also nominated for Journal.ie Best Irish Book and the Eason Teen & YA Book of the Year.
And the second part of Dave Rudden's KOTBD fantasy-adventure trilogy, The Forever Court, is nominated for the Children's Book of the Year - Senior Award.
Stewart Foster nominated
October 2017
We are so happy to announce that Stewart Foster's All The Things That Could Go Wrong has been nominated for the Shrewsbury Bookfest Award 2018!
The longlist is currently out at 7 primary schools and the Book Award Steering Group. Feedback from the primary schools will be collected in mid-November and analysed. The results of this feedback will dictate the shortlist of 6 books and the shortlist will be released on 6th December at the ‘Building a Buzz About Books’ conference.
Congratulations Stewart!
Tiny Tantrum out now
August 2017
The funny, charming and beautiful Tiny Tantrum by Caroline Crowe is out now! Illustrations are by Ella Okstad.
Have You Seen My Giraffe?
July 2017
Claire Powell, a rising star in the illustration world, has beautifully illustrated Have You Seen My Giraffe? Out today!
Cathy Cassidy's New Series is Out Today
June 2017
Love From Lexie is out today in hardback!
This is the first book in much loved author Cathy Cassidy's new series Lost & Found.
Ever since Lexie's mum vanished, her world hasn't stopped spinning. A new home, a new school - even a new family but Lexie never gives up hope that her mum will come back and writes her letters every day to tell her all about her new life.
Happy publication day Cathy.
Caroline Crowe wins!
May 2017
Our fantastic children's author, Caroline Crowe, has won the Heart of Hawick Children's Book Award 2017!
Her swashbuckling bedtime tale Pirates in Pyjamas was awarded Best Picture Book.
Congratulations!
Sweeties for the Chocolate Box Girls
May 2017
Today Papercutz, the largest comic book publisher in the US, publish the first adaptation of the internationally bestselling Chocolate Box Girls series by our much-loved author Cathy Cassidy. Sweeties, the first in a planned series, combines books 1 and 2 Cherry Crush and Marshmallow Skye. Cathy’s books have been translated into 26 languages worldwide with total sales now topping 3 million copies.
Congratulations, Cathy!
Imagination Box: A Mind of Its Own out now
May 2017
The third novel in the hugely entertaining Imagination Box series, A Mind Of Its Own, is published today!
The world as they know it is doomed when Tim’s old nemesis takes control of the Imagination Box – can they stop Clarice Crowfield before it’s too late?
Congratulations Martyn!
A Seven Letter Word Wins
March 2017
We are thrilled to announce that A Seven-Letter Word, the second novel from Kim Slater, has won the St Helen's School Libraries Award 2017 in the 11+ category!
This is really a triumph, as Kim won last year for her debut Smart.
Congratulations Kim!
A Seven Letter Word out in paperback today!
March 2017
The second Carnegie nominated novel from Kim Slater, A Seven Letter Word is out in paperback today!
It tells the story of Scrabble genius Finlay, struggling to overcome his confidence-denting stutter and, at the same time, uncover the mystery behind the disappearance of his mother.
Reading Rampage 2017
February 2017
We are delighted to announce that three of our Children's Agency authors have been longlisted for Reading Rampage 2017.
Polly Ho-Yen's Where Monsters Lie, Kim Slater's Smart and Vanessa Altin's The Pomegranate Tree have all been chosen for the city wide event sponsored by Leicester Libraries and ‘Whatever It Takes’.
Reading Rampage aims to promote Reading for Pleasure to children and young people.
Helen Grant a 'Perth Pioneer'
January 2017
Our wonderful Children's author Helen Grant has been chosen as a cultural representative as part of her city's bid to be the City of Culture in 2021.
The public nominated creative practitioners whom they consider to be "Perth Pioneers" demonstrating the rich creative culture of the city, Helen was absolutely thrilled to have been nominated for her novels and short stories, some of which are set in Perthshire, Scotland.
The Perth 2021 website today posted a piece about her which you can find here.
Helen is proud to support Perth's bid to be City of Culture 2021.
Carnegie Medal 2018
November 2017
We are so proud that three of our Children's Agency authors have been nominated for the Carnegie Medal 2018!
Kim Slater's 928 Miles From Home, Polly Ho-Yen's Fly Me Home and Stewart Foster's All The Things That Could Go Wrong are all longlisted for the prestigious prize. This will be the third time Kim and Polly have been nominated, one for each of their three novels, and the second nomination for Stewart who was longlisted for his outstanding debut novel, The Bubble Boy.
Congratulations to all!
The Variety of Life out today
October 2017
The beautiful new picturebook illustrated by Lorna Scobie is published by Hodder Children's today!
Author and nature expert Nicola Davies and Lorna teamed up to create a stunning edition where children can learn all about the weird and wonderful species of animals and plant.
Congratulations, Lorna!
Tangleweed and Brine - out now
September 2017
The outstanding collection of feminist fairytale re-tellings, by rising star Deirdre Sullivan is out today.
Deirdre's poetic and dark re-imagined tales include The Little Mermaid, Cinderella, Hansel and Gretel, along with some other lesser known stories. She carefully selected these stories as they had affected her more than others.
“Very early on in life, you are told if you do the right thing and behave a certain way, you’ll get the desired result. But in those tales, the characters did all the right things, yet they still didn’t get what they wanted and that felt realistic to me.”
Congratulations Deirdre!
The Forever Court in the USA
August 2017
The second novel in the award-winning Knights of the Borrowed Dark series is out in the US today!
Fly Me Home out today!
July 2017
The third truly magical and uplifting novel from Carnegie nominated author, Polly Ho-Yen, is published today.
Fly Me Home follows Leelu as she struggles to adjust to a new life in a new country. But someone is leaving her gifts which give her strange magical powers, and she realises she might be able to find her way home.
Congratulations, Polly!
Needlework wins CBI Award 2017
May 2017
Deirdre Sullivan's powerful and poetic novel Needlework has won the Honor Award for Fiction at the CBI Book of the Year Awards 2017.
The judges said: 'Needlework by Deirdre Sullivan is a poetic and eloquent exploration of violation, abuse, neglect and advocacy of the transformative power of art. Starkly genuine and sincere, Sullivan’s powerful use of the metaphor of tattooing invites reflection about identity, difference, self-protection and self-invention. This searing yet delicate representation of adolescent experience will resonate deeply with teenagers and is a story that needs to be told and needs to be read.'
Congratulations Deirdre!
928 Miles From Home out now!
May 2017
The third moving and heartfelt novel from critically-acclaimed Kim Slater is published today.
928 Miles From Home is a story of two boys from two different worlds thrown together and, with a mystery to untangle along the way, realise they're not so different after all.
Congratulations Kim!
The Circus published today
May 2017
The second outstanding novel from Olivia Levez is out today.
The Circus is a pitch-perfect YA novel which sees serial-runaway Willow leave home again, but this time she’s determined not to go back. Olivia’s powerful and authentic voice makes this one of the YA books to read in 2017.
Congratulations Olivia!
The Forever Court out today!
April 2017
The outstanding second book in the Knights of the Borrowed Dark trilogy is out in the UK today!
In The Forever Court we return to young and reluctant hero Denizen as he tries to adjust to life in the Order and understand the new and strange powers he acquired at the end of the first novel, Knights of the Borrowed Dark, which won the Specsavers’ Children’s Book of the Year 2016 at the Irish Book Awards.
The Forever Court will be launched by former Irish Children’s Laureate, Eion Colfer on Friday 7th April at Easons in Dublin.
Congratulations Dave!
Needlework nominated for CBI Book of the Year 2017
March 2017
We are so thrilled that Deidre Sullivan's Needlework has been nominated for a CBI Book of the Year Award 2017.
The CBI Book Awards are literary awards presented annually in the Republic of Ireland to writers and illustrators of books for children and young people. Previous winners include Eoin Colfer and John Boyne.
Congratulations Deirdre!
Knights of the Borrowed Dark wins
February 2017
We are thrilled that Dave Rudden's debut novel Knights of the Borrowed Dark has won the Most Read Award at the School Library Association Great Reads Awards.
Instead of a trophy, the students gave him a lightbulb as a nod to one of the most memorable parts of the story.
The ‘GRA’ award was set up by a group of school librarians. The aim of the award is to highlight new authors and diversify the reading of young adults.
Congratulations Dave!
PAIRS by Lorna Scobie out now
February 2017
The fantastic PAIRS is out today! The illustrations by Lorna Scobie are beautiful. You and the kids will be staring at them for hours.
Be sure to check out her website for more of her outstanding work.
Netflix to make The Kissing Booth
January 2017
We are thrilled to announce that Netflix have ordered a feature-length film adaption of The Kissing Booth by the wonderful Beth Reekles.
The film will be produced by London-LA based Komixx Media and will be directed by Vince Marcello whose credits include Disney’s Teen Beach Movie.
Beth wrote The Kissing Booth when she was 15 and became a Wattpad sensation. The debut novel has received more than 19 million reads worldwide.