Recommended reading books for primary & secondary aged children in the UK
Kara A. Kennedy is a young adult author whose work blends horror, thriller and supernatural elements with queer themes. She holds a BA in Professional Writing from Penn State University and has taken part in Author Mentor Match and Pitch Wars 2021.
Her debut novel is I Will Never Leave You, a sapphic YA story about a teenager confronted by the ghost of a toxic ex-girlfriend. The book is aimed at readers aged 12+ and was published by Delacorte Press on 23 July 2024.
I Will Never Leave You is a 352-page children’s paranormal thriller with ISBN 978-0-5937-0746-3. The novel follows seventeen-year-old Maya Rosier after Alana Murray vanishes during a hike and later reappears as a ghost with an ultimatum.
Ink Road, part of Bonnier’s Black & White Publishing imprint, acquired I Will Never Leave You for publication as Kara A. Kennedy’s sapphic YA debut in January 2024.
Horror for children and teens with titles by Julia Donaldson, Jon Klassen, Oliver Jeffers, Tom Fletcher, Shirley Jackson, Silvia Moreno-Garcia, Stephen Graham Jones, Tananarive Due, Kalynn Bayron, and Helen Oyeyemi.
I Will Never Leave You is ideal for Y8 and upwards book clubs and YA readers who are seeking something that is easy to follow and a little unusual in the issues and concepts it confronts.
August 2024’s set of book club recommendations features a selection of outstanding new titles by Candy Bee, Steve Smallman, Ben Sanders, Steve Webb, Paige Towler, Janelle McCurdy, Jo Simmons, Jess Popplewell, Kara A. Kennedy and Maureen Johnson.
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