Interviews with the winners of the Diverse Book Awards YA categories - Simon James Green, winner of the YA Readers' Choice Award for Boy Like Me; Sophie Cameron, runner up for the YA Category for Away with Words; and Jenny Ireland, winner of the YA Category with The First Move.

A full list of the books shortlisted for the YA Diverse Book Awards can be found here.

Simon James Green
Boy Like Me
The Big Ask
Llama Glamarama
A Year of Pride and Joy: 52 LGBTQ+ Voices Share Their Life Passions

Dance on My Grave: Summer of 1985, Aidan Chamber

Sophie Cameron
Away with Words
Our Sister Again
Last Bus to Everland
Out of the Blue

Jenny Ireland
The First Move
The Boy Next Door
Matched Up

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In this episode we talk with J P Rose about her new book, Birdie. And Ali interviews Anthony McGowan with Jason Rosam (originally broadcast on Riverside Radio) about his book Dogs of the Deadlands.

Birdie by J P Rose is a set in 1950s Yorkshire and is a story of hope and courage following Birdie Bagshaw and the racism she experiences moving to a mining village but also the bond she forms with a pit pony Mr Duke.

J P Rose's YA book is The Haunting of Tyrese Walker. She has also written lots of adult thrillers as Jacqui Rose including The Women and Loyalty.

Her website is https://jprosewriter.com/#home

And she can be found on social media here:

Twitter/X @jprosewriter
Instagram @jprosewriter

Anthony McGowan's Dogs of the Deadlands is set in Chernobyl in 1986. In the middle of the night Natasha has to leave her home and her puppy behind. Will the dogs survive without humans...

Anthony McGowan's other books include: Lark, Pike, Brock and Rook.

He can be found on social media here:

Twitter/X @anthony_mcgowan
Instagram @tonymcgowan

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An interview with Amy Lewis, Head of Coram Beanstalk and Sara Browne, one of their volunteers. Plus chat about 100 Tales from the Tokyo Ghost Café by Julian Sedgwick and Chie Kutsuwada

Coram Beanstalk

Link to the Media Trust Film

Website: https://www.beanstalkcharity.org.uk/

Find out about volunteering: https://www.beanstalkcharity.org.uk/Pages/Category/about-volunteering

Media Trust Charity Films

Link to information about films

Book Clubs in School’s Film

Books mentioned:

You Choose, by Pippa Goodhart and Nick Sharratt

Where the Wild Things Are, by Maurice Sendak

Press Here, by Hervé Tullet

The Book with No Pictures, by B.J. Novak

Book Discussion

100 Tales from the Tokyo Ghost Café by Julian Sedgwick and Chie Kutsuwada

Tsunami Girl, by Julian Sedgwick and Chie Kutsuwada

The Diverse Book Awards

2024 Shortlists

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