Meet the 2017 #YA10 authors: Sara Barnard
We asked #YA10 author @sarabforbooks 5 questions about her shortlisted book and her favourite YA.
Can you sum up Beautiful Broken Things in one sentence? Longtime best friends Caddy and Rosie learn about friendship, love and recovery when Suzanne hurricanes into their lives.
Why did you write Beautiful Broken Things? Because it wouldn't let me go! The characters have been with me for a long time. I wanted to explore the "after" of a traumatic experience, the way the effects can linger and what the impact can be on a young person and their relationships.
What does it mean to be on the YA Book Prize shortlist? A huge amount. This is *the* prize that honours and celebrates YA in all its variety and diversity. Just look at the list - there's such a range of genre, content and style, taking readers from the depths of space to inner London. There's something for everyone in YA, and this prize recognises that. I feel very honoured and proud to be on the list.
Which book made you a fan of YA? It wasn't a single book, so I couldn't name just one. There wasn't much of what we now call YA around when I was actually a teenager, especially not from the UK, but I loved Sarra Manning and Malorie Blackman. Across the sea, I was a big fan of Jaclyn Moriarty in Australia and Sarah Dessen in the US.
What is special about YA from the UK and Ireland? I think it's very honest - you don't see much romanticising, which is a great thing. It's down-to-earth and often quite unflinching. You can tell you're reading a British/Irish YA book from the first page.