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?
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.
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).
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? 🙂
If you follow Holly on Twitter, or read any of her books, you’ll know that feminism is a topic she is PASSIONATE about. So every Friday Holly, myself and Hannah will be posting something to do with feminism – whether that’s Holly’s thoughts on a particular topic, her top 5 feminist websites or just some fun articles and features we’ve come across on the web and want to share with you. To kick off, we had a few questions we wanted to ask Holly:
What does feminism mean to you?
Equality for everyone, regardless of their gender. IT REALLY IS THAT SIMPLE. I know some people (wrongly) think feminists want to win power from the guys, lock them in cages, and then walk them around on leashes made from our plaited grown-out armpit hair. But that’s not it. Feminism is for all genders. Feminism benefits all genders.
What first got you interested in feminism?
I’ve always had this feeling growing up that something was…wrong… but couldn’t quite work out why I was feeling so icky. I had this constant conflict inside of me, between feeling something was wasn’t right, but then also wanting to partake in the wrongness. I remember, one rainy day at school, the boys decided to spend their lunch-hour lining all us girls up in order of who had the nicest arse. Half of me thought, “this is disgusting” and the other half thought, “I hope I win”.
It was only in my twenties, when the fourth wave of feminism hit, that I was like – hang on – I LIKE THIS. I LIKE WHAT YOU’RE SAYING VERY MUCH. And, How To Be A Woman by Caitlin Moran really did change my life. It made feminism FUNNY, and approachable, and it was like a big fat fire was lit inside of me. I really think humour is the best gateway drug into feminism. Start with the ridiculous, like, “I know, I’ll spend forty quid painfully waxing off all my pubes, even though no-one ever sees them”…then build-up to the big stuff – rape culture, abuse, female genital mutilation, rights to education…
Thanks Holly!
What first got you interested in feminism and what does it mean to you? Let us know by posting your thoughts using the hashtag #100DaysofNormal. We can’t wait to hear from you!
