Having heard incredible things about Manuela Salvi’s Girl Detached – banned in Italy for its portrayal of a girl lured into sex work, but taking UK bloggers and readers by storm – we can’t wait to read it. (As you’d expect from the subject, though, it’s one we’d recommend for mature teens.) It’s one of the first books published by Barrington Stoke as part of their new The Bucket List imprint. We asked Manuela to take part in our 5-4-3-2-1 feature today. 5 authors I’d want wit

We are massive fans of Barrington Stoke’s amazing books, and we are also huge fans of Phil Earle’s brilliant writing, so when they got in touch to ask if we’d be able to reveal the cover to his Mind The Gap we jumped at the chance! This stunning cover is designed by David Wardle, and we have a few words from Phil about the book (which sounds wonderful!) “I have huge respect for fantasy writers, for their ability to transport readers into other mythical realms, but as a reader

It’s release day today for Stripes’s fantastic anthology I’ll Be Home For Christmas, which has a host of stunning contributors writing Christmas stories on the theme of home. Even better, the book is raising money for the wonderful homelessness charity Crisis. Check out the spectacular full lineup of contributors: Benjamin Zephaniah, Non Pratt, Marcus Sedgwick, Cat Clarke, Kevin Brooks, Holly Bourne, Juno Dawson, Sita Brahmachari, Tracy Darnton, Tom Becker, Katy Cannon, Melvi

As big fans of Julie Mayhew’s last novel, The Big Lie, we’re extremely excited to read her recently-released Mother Tongue! To celebrate, we have her taking on our 5-4-3-2-1 feature. 5 ~ Songs that sum up the last novel you wrote perfectly I never start working on a book with words, always with pictures and music. These are the songs I was listening to on repeat while writing Mother Tongue… Caught A Long Wind – Feist (The first song I’d play when I say down at my desk each d

We’re really looking forward to reading Spynosaur by Guy Bass, so it’s great to have him on the site today to take part in our 5-4-3-2-1 feature! Five songs that sum up the last novel you wrote perfectly 1. The James Bond theme 2. The Dinosaur Song by Johnny Cash 3. Walk the Dinosaur by Was Not Was 4. Spy by They Might Be Giants 5. The theme tune to pretty much any 22-minute animated cartoon from the 1980s (but if you’ve got some time on your hands, check out Pole Positio

We’re really excited to share the new covers for Bloomsbury’s Tales of Terror series with you! These books, written by Chris Priestley and with cover and interior illustrations by David Roberts, look spine-chilling but wonderful. They’re being published in October – perfect Halloween reads! Uncle Montague’s Tales of Terror Uncle Montague lives alone in a big house and his regular visits from his nephew give him the opportunity to relive some of the most frightening stories he

Really pleased to introduce a very special 5-4-3-2-1 today! We have had SO MANY brilliant authors taking part in this feature, but I was intrigued when I received the offer of one from Lydia Bennet. Lydia, as classics fans will know, is a supporting character in Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen but takes centre stage in Natasha Farrant’s Lydia, published by Chicken House. Well, thank you for inviting me to do this! I can’t tell you what a thrill it is. Nobody ever asks my o