I’m delighted to announce that we’ve just signed up a fantastic new trilogy by debut author Tim Hall!

The first book of the trilogy, Shadow of the Wolf, is set in Sherwood Forest in medieval England. However, if you think you know the story then think again. Tim Hall presents a Robin Hood more heroic and horrific than ever before: a blind, ruthless assassin and elemental creature of the forest. Fourteen-year-old Robin may not be able to see, but he learns to understand every sound that the forest makes – the heartbeat of a nearby bird, the sound of a deer drinking from a stream, the gentle rustle of an enemy boot passing through the foliage…

We don’t want to give too much away right now, but here’s a sneaky peek of what’s to come:

So many tales have already been told of Robin Hood. Already he’s the hero with a thousand faces.

First, forget everything you’ve heard. Robin was no prince, and he was no dispossessed lord; he didn’t fight in the Crusades; he never gave a penny to the poor.

His real name wasn’t even Robin Hood. Marian called him that as a kind of joke. Sir Robin of the Hood. A name Robin would cling to when he was losing grip of everything else.  Mind you, one thing you’ve heard is true. He was blind.

No, that’s not right. Let me put that another way. Truer to say, Robin Hood didn’t see with his eyes. In fact he was the only one who saw clearly in this place of illusion and lies.

Tim has previously worked as a news journalist, and this is his first book for young adults. Packed full of dark drama and unexpected plot twists, Shadow of the Wolf is an absolute page turner that will have teenage readers clamouring for its sequel. When the manuscript came in, I read it all in one sitting and couldn’t put it down. We’re all very excited to be working with Tim on this fantastic new project.

Watch this space!

A few weeks ago at DFB I was introduced to WE by John Dickinson. I have to admit, I was initially a little dubious about reading it, as science fiction and fantasy are not my favourite genres. But I began and within a few pages I could not put the book down!

WE tells the story of Paul Munro, an engineer who is sent to work on a scientific station on a distant moon. The book is set in the future and the Earth that Paul leaves behind is a very different place to the world we know today. Paul and the people he lives with in the station are the only people able to look at the Earth from a distant perspective and perhaps the only ones able to save the human race from a terrifying future.

It is a mission from which Paul knows he cannot return and I found it terribly moving watching him come to terms with the isolation and loneliness of his new home. Gradually Paul comes to trust his fellow researchers, but the claustrophobic atmosphere they inhabit (they are trapped on the moon for the rest of their lives, in a small dome from which it is difficult and dangerous to leave) leads to explosive events which threaten to tear the team apart.

WE is full of grotesque characters and quite terrifyinging ideas: the crew have spindly bodies and swollen heads, and humans are growing up in a system from which they can never escape. But for me, the book was brought to life by the human drams at the cenre of it. The future of Earth portrayed in the book may seem like a remote possibility for our planet, but  the people fighting for a future of freedom and happiness for their children are no different from those we see around us today.

This tale is the perfect thriller for young adults. It is a gripping story carrying a poignant message that will make you question the very nature of who we are and where our world is going.

Jenny Downham’s hugely successful Before I Die is destined for the big screen! Dakota Fanning and Jeremy Irvine to star in the film adaptation Now is Good. Filming will begin this July!

The news that Jenny Downham’s critically acclaimed debut novel Before I Die will soon take to the big screen was received with great excitement here at RHCB. Heralded as ‘an extraordinary first novel’ by the Sunday Times, the book has sold over 250,000 copies across all editions following its first publication by David Fickling Books in July 2007, and a film is now in the pipeline as a BBC films project. Titled Now is Good the film will be based on Downham’s life affirming tale of a terminally ill teenage girl and her determination to live life and love to the fullest before her impending death. Hollywood starlet Dakota Fanning and Jeremy Irvine, who will soon make his film debut in the adaptation of Michael Morpurgo’s War Horse, have landed the leading roles.

Filming is due to begin in July and will coincide with the release of Jenny’s arresting second novel You Against Me in paperback.

Hello everybody!

I just thought I would write to introduce myself – I’m Kirsten, and I’m going to be working here at DFB until the end of the year. I will be covering Hannah’s position, as she has just had a baby! We are all very excited and happy for Hannah.

I’m thrilled to be starting here, as I have been a fan of DFB books for a long time. I recently read Kenneth Oppel’s brilliant new novel Half Brother and haven’t been able to stop talking about it (not least because my own brother sometimes acts a bit like a chimp)! Oppel explores the relationship between men and other primates from a wonderfully fresh perspective, and asks difficult questions about the ethics of keeping animals in captivity and using them for scientific research. Many of us know that chimpanzees (like Zan) are the closest living relative to humans, but did you know any of these facts about primates?

• Apart from humans, Chimpanzees use tools more than any other animal
• Monkeys eat bananas in the same way that we do – they peel them, and don’t eat the skin
• Gorillas can catch human colds
• Each gorilla has a unique nose print – a bit like our human fingerprints!

Just how different are we?

If you haven’t already picked up the book, I would strongly recommend it.

OUT NOW! The paperback edition of Margo Lanagan’s TENDER MORSELS – one of the most illuminating and heartbreaking novels I have read in the last, ooh, about thirty-eight years.

When I read Margo’s short story ‘Singing my Sister Down’  from her collection BLACK JUICE (which someone else  published, grrr), I nearly fell off my chair. Here was a writer who was just so skilled at storytelling but also managed to blast the whole young adult genre out of the water – the story was/is beautiful, terrifying, empathetic and wise. I recently had lunch with her lovely agent, Jill Grinberg,  much of which was spent simply sighing  in awe at  what a wonderful writer Margo is.

I urge ANYONE  (above perhaps fourteen years old, before any Daily Mail journalists start hyperventilating) to read this book now. It’s extraordinary and gripping and beautiful. And not only TENDER MORSELS -  there’s a wealth of thrilling worlds in Margo’s collections of short stories, BLACK JUICE, RED SPIKES and WHITE TIME. If every secondary school in the land had copies of Margo’s books… well, forget Fabio, there just might well be a Literary World Cup.

PS: this really isn’t supposed to be a raving-about-all-our-books-blog-because-surely-by-publishing-in-the-first-place-we’re-showing-we-love-them blog (you’re right, bookwitch). But sometimes you just can’t help it.