Author: Joanna Olney

Am I Normal Yet? in The Observer

“An involving look at feminism, friendship and the secrets we hide even from those who know us best.” – The Observer

Brilliant to come in to the usbornepublishing office today and see Holly and Am I Normal Yet? listed in The Observer’s ‘Five of the Best in Young Adult Fiction’ alongside four other fab YA authors. Hooray! 

All about Evie

All Evie wants is to be normal. And now she’s almost off her meds, going to parties and making friends, she’s ready for the next step: dating. But relationships are messy. They can make any girl feel like they’re going mad. And if Evie can’t even tell her new mates Amber and Lottie the truth about herself, how will she cope when she falls in love?

Top 5 Feminist YA Books

Ahead of tonight’s #UKYAchat about feminism and gender
equality in YA, Holly has written about her top 5 feminist YA Books for Queen of Contemporary blog. Here’s a juicy taster of what to expect:

‘Am I Normal Yet? is the first book in a
trilogy about a group of girls who set up their own feminist campaign
group called ‘The Spinster Club’. I think YA gets a bad rep when it
comes to feminism. So many people keep bleating out the dreaded words
‘Bella’ and ‘Swan’ – like Twilight isn’t a) TEN years old, and b) Not
the only YA book out there. In fact, YA have LOADS of incredibly
feminist books…

Head over to Queen of Contemporary to see the books Holly has included in her top 5!

And don’t forget to log into Twitter at 8pm, search for #UKYAchat and join in the conversation with authors, bloggers, librarians and readers about feminism and gender roles in YA.

#TBT Q&A with PaperTrailYA

Hello Day 18 of #100DaysofNormal! On this gorgeous June day, we’re throwing back to a brill Q&A Holly did with PaperTrailYA blog earlier this month. Here’s a teeny-tiny taster:

‘Hi, Holly! Thank you
so much for taking the time out of your schedule to chat with us today.
How does it feel to be bringing out your third novel Am I Normal Yet?

I’m
so excited and yet SO terrified at the same time. This book is like my
Horcrux, and I really hope everyone loves it as dearly as I do. What’s
so exciting is it’s the first in a trilogy. I’m loving getting to stay
with the same bunch of characters for three books, after writing two
standalones.’

Read the interview in full at http://bit.ly/1QFmPWB.

Congratulations to @emmarrobinson on Twitter – she’s the very lucky winner of the signed copy of SOULMATES. We hope you enjoy it Emma!

Read the first chapter of SOULMATES at www.usborne.com/soulmates

There will be lots more opportunities to win copies of Holly’s books – so stay tuned and be sure to follow Holly on Twitter (@Holly_BourneYA).

Holly Bourne at YALC 2015

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The official YALC 2015 schedule has arrived at the usbornepublishing office and not only is the lineup AMAZE but it also includes our very own Holly Bourne! 

YALC is a celebration of young adult books managed by reading charity Book Trust. It’s an interactive event
where YA fans meet their favourite authors, listen to panel discussions
and take part in workshops. It is taking place on 17th-19th July at London Film and Comic Con at Olympia (Hammersmith Road, London W14 8UX).

Holly is going to be at YALC on Sunday 19th July at 10:30am chatting all things Mental Health in YA alongside Brian Conaghan, Annabel Pitcher and Matt Whyman. After the event, Holly will be signing copies of her books.

Here are Holly’s full event details:

Sunday 19th July 2015
Main stage
Mental Health in YA
10.30-11.15am
As part our our ‘What is Normal?’ strand, we’ll be speaking out about mental health in books for young adults. Authors Holly Bourne, Brian Conaghan, Annabel Pitcher and Matt Whyman will be exploring the representation of mental health issues in YA today. 

The full lineup is on the Booktrust website here.

Hope to see you all there!

Wahoo! It’s Day 15 of #100DaysofNormal and to celebrate we have this rather fab Twitter competition. Head to Holly’s Twitter page for a chance to win a signed copy of her first novel, Soulmates! We have one to giveaway to one very lucky winner!

Good luck!

The Manifesto on How to be Interesting is out now! Read the first chapter extract at www.usborne.com/HowtoBeInteresting.

Read the first chapter of Am I Normal Yet? online now at www.usborne.com/readAmINormalYet. What are you waiting for? 🙂