Happy Friday my lovely bookworms. I am currently travelling home from holiday. But today I’m really excited to be ending the blog tour for Something Certain, Maybe by Sara Barnard. This is also my current read for the train ride. It’s been so long since I read a book by Sara and I’d forgotten how much I loved her writing. I would say if you are a fan of Holly Bourne, like I am, as you all know then I would definitely recommend Sara’s books. My favourite of hers is A Quiet Kind of Thunder.
Something Certain, Maybe is a sapphic contemporary UKYA set in university. Rosie is one of the original trio of characters from Beautiful Broken Things her first YA that I loved. Which then continued into Fierce Fragile Hearts. This book can be read as a standalone book but I would encourage you to read her other books too.
Rosie is starting her first year there and she has everything planned out, she always been told to list her certainties. But she soon realises in the first few days that University isn’t always how it seems. New friends, new flat, new chapter of life isn’t how she imagined. I’m loving this as I say and I will write a full review next week as it won’t take me long to finish it. So until then, I have a Q&A with the lovely Sara for my post and here is a bit more about her new book Something Certain, Maybe.
Something Certain, Maybe by Sara Barnard Published by Macmillan Children's Books on July 1, 2022
Genres: Contemporary, LGBTQ+, Love & Romance, UKYA, Young Adult Fiction
Amazon | Book Depository | Waterstones
Goodreads
A powerful novel about first love, friendships and embracing the uncertainty of an unknowable future, from Sara Barnard, winner of the YA Book Prize.
Rosie is ready for her life to begin, because nothing says new life like going to university. After years of waiting and working hard, she's finally on the road that will secure her future.
Except university turns out to be not what she hoped or imagined, and although she's not exactly unhappy – really! – she might be a little bit worried that she doesn't really like her course much. Or her flatmates. Or really... anything? But it's normal to be homesick (right?) and everything will have settled in a month or two, and it's totally fine that her friends seem so much happier than she is, and that the doctors don’t seem to know what’s wrong with her mother.
But then she meets Jade, and everything starts to look a little brighter. At least, it does if she’s only looking at Jade. But is first love enough when everything else is falling apart?
Interview with Sara Barnard
1. Can you introduce your new book, Something Certain, Maybe in one or two sentences?
What happens when everything you’ve planned for turns out to not actually be what you want? Rosie is about to find out. And also fall in love.
2. Tell what makes SCM different from your other books?
It is set at university, which is a first. The characters are on the older side for YA, and it’s an experience that isn’t often shown in UK YA.
3. This is your 6th YA book… What has been your writing journey been like?
I’ve been very lucky in that I’ve had a supportive publisher and I’ve been able to write multiple books and build a readership. YA has changed an awful lot since I was first published in 2016, so there’s been a lot of adjustment, too.
4. What have been some of your highlights and your challenges?
The highlights are always readers – talking with them during events or reading their messages. It’s amazing to see your books and characters resonating with readers. Publishing in general has a lot of challenges, mostly ones that I think don’t really get talked about very much – it’s a tough industry, and ultimately you have very little control over how your career goes, which is hard to deal with, sometimes!
5. Do you have a favourite or more memorable book you’ve written?
They are all special in different ways, but Fierce Fragile Hearts is a book apart for me, because it’s the book I always wanted to write and honestly never thought I’d be able to. Suzanne is a character who has been with me for a long time, so it meant the world to be able to tell her story.
6. What was your inspiration behind Something Certain, Maybe?
I find it really interesting that we really only have one narrative about the university experience, which is that it’s this amazing time full of excitement and adventures. That’s very obviously not the case for so many people, but yet we don’t really talk about it, and those stories don’t tend to get told on TV or in books. I was lucky to enjoy my time at university, but I know a lot of people who had a difficult time of it, or chose to drop out. I wanted to put that story on the page.
7. When you started your writing career, how did you know you wanted to write for teenagers?
It was always just the time that I found most interesting! There’s so much potential in that period of your life, which makes it so rich for storytelling. Even the darkest stories have that intrinsic element of hope, because you’re not set in your life yet, so many choices are still open to you. I also feel quite strongly that teenagers – especially teenage girls – deserve good stories, where their wants and needs and hopes are taken seriously.
8. Is there a story you still want to write but haven’t gotten round to yet?
Plenty!
9. Finally – what authors or books you would recommend after reading Something Certain, Maybe
Beautiful Broken Things and Fierce Fragile Hearts, if they haven’t read them yet and want to read more of the three girls!
Thank you so much to Sara for answering my questions. Something Certain, Maybe is OUT NOW so grab you copy. Also just look at the new covers all together!
