Category Archives: middle grade

Sense and Sensibility (with bells on)

Posted on October 1, 2020 by

Firstly, a confession: until I came to be offered the opportunity to rewrite Sense and Sensibility, the closest I had come to Jane Austen was TV reruns of Mr Darcy emerging wet from a lake, and a reluctant trudge around … Continue reading →

Posted in middle grade, Reading, romance, Teen, women's fiction | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Welcome to 4b: The Worst Class in the World

Posted on May 14, 2020 by

Schools might be closed for most of us, but for one long-suffering teacher, Mr Nidgett, the classroom is packed with shenanigans. That’s because he’s in charge of 4b, who are LITERALLY The Worst Class in the World, at least according … Continue reading →

Posted in creative writing, Fiction, middle grade, Reading, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

‘Hull, Nadin!’

Posted on December 3, 2019 by

Let us set aside for a moment that the University of Hull’s barrel of ‘notable alumni’ was small to start with, and is now very much scraped, and appreciate that I have wanted to do this for more years than … Continue reading →

Posted in creative writing, Fiction, middle grade, women's fiction | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

All cheer for Alan

Posted on November 25, 2019 by

Every so often, a commission gets you thinking. And thinking. And thinking some more. But learning binary? Caesar shifts? How to operate an Enigma machine? This biography of Alan Turing was one of my biggest challenges and delights to write … Continue reading →

Posted in creative writing, middle grade | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

My BAFTA-Winning Boy

Posted on November 26, 2018 by

This is how it started. A small boy I’d glimpsed on a street in Peckham, his sleeping bag on his back like a nylon snail. From that came pages of notes about a boy called Tom, who eventually turned into … Continue reading →

Posted in creative writing, Fiction, middle grade, Teen, YA | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

We are BAFTA-nominated… and breathe

Posted on October 22, 2018 by

A couple of days ago, I found out that the CBBC adaptation of Joe All Alone was shortlisted for the Royal Television Society Awards for Best Children’s Drama. A couple of minutes ago, I found out it’s now nominated for … Continue reading →

Posted in creative writing, middle grade | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

(Pigeon) seeds of a story

Posted on July 12, 2018 by

It began with a name, as it so often does for me: The Audacious Birdy Jones. But who she was, what she looked like, what her story was were blurry and inchoate, still lost somewhere in the soup of story … Continue reading →

Posted in Blog, creative writing, Fiction, middle grade, Reading | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Birdy Jones is all alone

Posted on May 26, 2018 by

Of all the questions I get asked on school visits, there are several perennials: How old are you, Miss? How much do you earn, Miss? Do you know JK Rowling / Jacqueline Wilson / David Walliams / any other much … Continue reading →

Posted in creative writing, Fiction, middle grade, Reading | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

BAFTA, baby!

Posted on April 15, 2018 by

On Friday, someone asked me how different my life was a decade ago. And other than the Menace being smaller and markedly more menacing, and my home being two roads away, I said it barely was. ten years ago I … Continue reading →

Posted in creative writing, Fiction, middle grade, Teen, YA | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

CBBC’s Joe All Alone and the truth about child poverty

Posted on April 2, 2018 by

Joe All Alone is a book (and, now, BBC TV series) about friendship. It’s a book about family, and what constitutes that today. It’s a book about bullying. It’s a book about difference and acceptance. But beneath all that, it’s … Continue reading →

Posted in Blog, Fiction, middle grade, Teen, Uncategorized, YA | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment