Head over to the Guardian Teen book site for more gems like this from Holly: http://bit.ly/1ozw7XV
Why you should spend Valentine’s Day with your friends
Tag: HHCLB
6 top tips for relationships in your teens over at SugarScape
Head over to sugarscape for a good dose of advice from Holly on all things love. It’s a good’un!
Praise for How Hard Can Love Be?
Hello fellow Spinsters, Amy from Usborne here. I’ve stolen Holly’s blog today to do a little round-up of some of the amaazing reviews coming in for How Hard Can Love Be?, out now. Here are a few of our favourites:
“This is the second book in the new Holly Bourne Normal trilogy and is
COMPLETELY FANTASTIC. Not that I expected anything less after the
amazing after the stunning Am I Normal Yet?” – Guardian children’s book site teen reviewer
“Holly Bourne is one of the most talented YA writers of the moment and I cannot wait to read the next instalment to find out what happens to the Spinster Club. LOVE, LOVE, LOVE!” – Lucy from Queen of Contemporary
“Emotive and thought provoking this searingly honest book deals with the biggest life lesson of all: nobody’s perfect.” – South Wales Evening Post, Book of the Week
“Holly Bourne has become a true feminist legend of YA!” – Emma from Never Judge a Book by Its Cover
“The second installment in [Holly’s] Normal series…and tells Amber’s story of first love, friendship and addiction.” – The Sunday Express, S Magazine
Read the first chapter of How Hard Can Love Be? at www.usborne.com/readHolly.
Spinster Sunday
One of the most amazing things about Am I Normal Yet? and How Hard Can Love Be? is seeing fans – readers, bloggers and vloggers – forming their own Spinster Clubs.
One of the most recent comes from Emma of Never Judge a Book By its Cover (a fantastic book blog you should definitely check out). Emma has created a brilliant Tumblr @the-spinster-club for readers “who adored [Am I Normal Yet?], are feminist or a new feminist like myself, who wants to own who
they are and be an individual.” You can look forward to posts about the Normal series, quotes, discussions
agendas and there is talk of a Feminist Street Team too. We LOVE the sound of that. Check in with Emma over at The Spinster Club for more.
Speaking of all things Spinster, today Holly is up in Lytham St Anne’s headlining Spinster Sunday. Hosted by Storytellers Inc, it’s an afternoon of events to
celebrate friendship, feminism and frankly brilliant books. This empowering
afternoon is sure to pass the Bechdel test with a fantastic line-up of current
teen/YA authors including Non Pratt, Keris Stainton, Sara Barnard, Natasha Farrant and Jenny Maclachan. More on this next week!
Go Spinsters!
Meet Holly Bourne on the How Hard Can Love Be? tour
To celebrate the release of How Hard Can Love Be? Holly will be touring the UK and Ireland and she wants to meet YOU.
All public events are listed here, with more to be added soon, so stay tuned!
SPINSTER SUNDAY with Holly Bourne
Sunday 7th February, from 1pm at St Annes Place, Lytham St Annes
An afternoon of events to
celebrate friendship, feminism and frankly brilliant books. Hosted by Storytellers Inc this empowering
afternoon is sure to pass the Bechdel test with a fantastic line-up of current
teen/YA authors including Non Pratt, Keris Stainton, Sara Barnard, Natasha Farrant and Jenny Maclachan.
A SPINSTER CLUB EVENING at Easons
Thursday 11th February, 6pm at Easons O’Connell Street, Dublin
Join Holly for an evening of book chat, a reading and Q&A plus lots of other fun activities.
There will be CHEESY WOTSITS!
Tuesday 23rd February, 7pm at Drink, Shop, Do, London
Join Holly, fellow Usborne author Kathryn Evans, Eve Ainsworth and Nicci Cloke for readings, cocktails, an utterly ridiculous short story challenge and book signings.
Tickets are free – book your place via Eventbrite.
Wednesday 2nd March, 6pm at Stratford East Picturehouse, London
Join Holly, Juno Dawson and Sara Barnard for an awesome night of books, writing and creativity at World
Book Day’s first ever live premiere for teens.
Hosted by performance poet, author and playwright LEMN SISSAY.
Tickets £3 (available via the Picturehouse website)
VERY SPECIAL EVENT IN MANCHESTER – to be announced soon
Sunday 6th March
Stay tuned for more on this soon!
Saturday 2nd April, 5pm
Three of the very best writers for YA, Sarah Crossan, Sita
Brahmachari and Holly Bourne join forces for a session guaranteed to
entertain, to inspire, and to provoke debate and laughter.
Tickets are available via the festival’s website.
How Hard Can Love Be? chosen for commuter book club – Books on the Go
Hurray! How Hard Can Love Be? has been chosen for the commuter book club Books on the Go as its February read.
Keep your eyes peeled if you travel on a Great Northern or Thameslink train for lots of Holly Bourne love!
Find out all about the book club and for the chance to WIN A HOLIDAY to Budapest and get a super snazzy money-off-the-book voucher visit the Thameslink website.
How Hard Can Love Be? is out TODAY!
So, you know how Amber was always OFF ON ONE in Am I Normal Yet? about the other spinster club girls and their boy troubles? Well, I decided it would be fun if Miss Cynic fell in love. Hard.
I can’t believe How Hard Can Love Be? is out TODAY. I hope you love Amber’s journey as much as I do. Here’s to nice boys who call themselves feminists, Dumbledore’s Army, rainbows, and American roadtrips. See you at Summer Camp!
To celebrate the launch of How Hard Can Love Be? we will be hosting #14DaysofLove – a celebration
of love in all its forms – from first love to friendships to family. Keep an eye out for exclusive videos, competitions and more! Join in with #14daysoflove and #HHCLB.