It surprised me just how many people are involved in the publication of a book. Editors, copy editors, proof readers, a designer for the cover as well as an illustrator and I’m sure a million more people I didn’t even know were involved. It’s a proper team sport. I love that. What advice would you give people who would like to write a YA novel? It's a really bad time to come across Miles Brislenn again. Miles was a shy kid who went to the same school as her, and he had a huge crush on her. He recognises her the minute he sees her, but Renia has no idea who he is. She only knows he calls her Rey, so he must know her from her worst times. But as things come to a head with her daughter, Miles becomes a surprising source of support.

Knowles commented: “Dark secrets, quests, enemies and lovers. Family curses, morally dubious villains and summer feuds – our 2023 YA titles truly offer something for every reader whatever their genre of choice. It’s an exciting time for YA and we believe these books and their talented, creative authors are about to make it even more exciting.” Both instantly engaging and finely nuanced, The First Move is a YA romance with real-life resonance and uplifting vibes. Always honest on the realities of living with a long-term condition and mental health struggles, it’s also happy-making, wholesome, and a whole lot of fun, with well-developed characters readers will root for and relate to. I was thinking about how I would have felt in that position as I was so incredibly self-conscious at school and mortified by everything,” says Jenny. “I think young people dealing with anything extra in school are heroes because it's already hard enough being a teenager.” Little do they know they've already discovered each other online, and have more in common than they think . . .

Workplace Wellbeing: What to do when you're not even remotely interested in another meeting

Jenny has always been a fan of YA books and loves the emotionally intense nature of the genre. Her debut novel, The First Move, is about the beautiful and cool Juliet, who has severe arthritis and uses crutches. Juliet exists at the edges of her friends' social lives, skipping parties to play online chess with strangers under a pseudonym as she believes girls like her don't get to have their own love stories. Upon waking up one week later, Ireland was told the virus had developed into encephalitis: inflammation of the brain. While unconscious, she underwent two brain surgeries and had a tube implemented to drain fluid from her brain to her abdomen. Although she’s now recovered, the tube is there to stay. Again, unable to walk, Ireland returned to writing with a new perspective. Reflecting on how her disability had affected her health, Ireland took inspiration from her life to craft a teenage protagonist with arthritis—and, slowly, what would become The First Move started to take shape. “Living with arthritis for so long, it was a no-brainer for me to have a disabled female character as my lead,” Ireland says. Teenage heroes You know which movies are the worst? The ones set at Christmas. Teenagers with above-average good looks, festive jumpers and mistletoe, Tiffany boxes and fake snow, wrapped up with perfect smug smiles. Seventeen-year-old Jules (real name Juliet - her mum's obsessed with the Baz Luhrmann film) is a bit cut off from her peers due to her arthritis (yes, young people can get it too). It could be worse - she has loving parents and her friend Michael is ever loyal and supportive. Other friend Tara is a little less so (but has her own issues).

Juliet believes girls like her - girls with arthritis - don't get their own love stories. She exists at the edges of her friends' social lives, skipping parties to play online chess under a pseudonym with strangers around the world. There, she isn't just 'the girl with crutches'. In a “whatever-doesn’t-kill-you way”, Ireland credits her encephalitis with giving her the confidence to write about chronic illness. “[Since my surgery,] I don’t freak out about the tiny things any more. I’m more inclined to go for it and write about what I want.” In 2020, she was chosen for the scheme, and began having regular calls with an editor who coached her through finishing the novel. Then, in the autumn of 2021, Ireland was offered a two-book deal with Penguin Random House. “My kids still remember it as the day I said the ‘F-word’ three times in a row. Of course, it was truly warranted. It changed my life completely.”It was amazing, but then I had huge flares six weeks after the births,” Jenny explains. “Chris did a lot of the night feeding with Lyla because getting up was too painful for me, and my parents helped out a lot.” Juliet thinks Ronan thinks someone like Ronan could never be interested in someone like her - and she wouldn't want him to be anyway - he always acts like he's cooler than everyone else. The First Move is an uplifting and inclusive own-voice YA romance debut. Perfect for fans of Emily Henry, Alice Oseman and Netflix’s The Queen’s Gambit. About This Edition ISBN: Although the hospital experience can be called traumatic, for Ireland, recovery was the hardest part. In the six weeks after leaving hospital, she could barely walk and her short-term memory noticeably suffered. She gained two stone in body weight from her required steroid medication. In just over a month, her entire appearance changed. Ireland says: “I hated that [the weight gain] bothered me, but it did. I had been put through all that and I didn’t even look like myself any more.” I never plan anything. I wish I did. I have friends who plan, and it looks like a lovely way to write but my brain doesn’t seem to work that way. Apart from the time that I write (5am-7am) it’s all a bit chaotic. I just have a general idea, an idea of the midpoint and a vague idea of the ending before just diving in and seeing where the characters take me.

The beautiful story is important because every year about one in 10,000 children in Ireland is diagnosed with juvenile idiopathic arthritis. According to Arthritis Ireland, there are an estimated 1,200 to 1,400 under-16s with the condition. I want to say again that the people feel real, the emotions feel real, the situations, regrets, second-guessing--everything. And the pull between Renia and Miles is so sweet. The romance is wonderful and the sex scenes are really good. There is so much in this book but it all works so well together. It's a book about finding a healthy place in relationships- between mother and daughter, father and daughter, mother and the daughter she gave up for adoption, between a man and a woman falling in love. There is hope, fear, rejection, forgiveness and finally acceptance. Acceptance that you do the best you can, so forgive yourself and others and move on with your life. My incredible mum and dad paid for it,” she says. “That was the start of everything really because the tutor said I could write and to keep going. I kept trying, although I got a lot of nos at first.” The turning point was when she applied for the Penguin Random House WriteNow programme in 2020. Jenny was one of 14 out of 3,700 entrants selected for mentorship by a Penguin editor. “It changed everything for me,” she says. Senior commissioning editor Naomi Colthurst acquired UK and Commonwealth rights for Chaos and Flame by Tessa Gratton and Justina Ireland in a two-book deal via Kim Ryan at Penguin Young Readers. Billed as “a scorching, enemies-to-lovers fantasy romance”, the book will be released in March 2023. Ronan’s contained emotions, as well as his somewhat strained relationship with his mother, make starting at a completely new school daunting; the planning and approaching both his social life and school environment through chess makes for a niche but refreshing read, allowing more to be seen of his thought process as he references pieces moving or patterns/move sets of Grandmasters.

LoveReading Says

Penguin Random House Children’s imprint Penguin has announced a string of new YA authors added to its list for 2023, with books ranging from “heart-stopping” thrillers and fantasies to inclusive and high-concept romances. On the whole, though, I really enjoyed this. The writing is good and flows smoothly, and the pacing is generally good as well. There's a bit of a draggy section round the middle, but things got going again soon after, and I raced to the end. My copy of The First Move was provided to me by the Jennifer Lohmann herself, after I tweeted her to ask whether she knew if the e-version would be available in the UK. I'd read Wendy the Superlibrarian's review, you see, and it sounded like just my sort of book.