Hello my lovely bookworms. Today I’m really excited to be part of the Virtual Blog Tour for Chelsea High, a debut YA by Jenny Oliver. Jenny is best known for her adult contemporaries and romance books and I’m so excited for this new journey in her writing career. Chelsea High is described as ‘UK’s answer to Gossip Girl.’ I feel this is the perfect Summer Read. Make sure you pick it up.

As part of the blog tour, Jenny has stopped by my blog to answer a few of my question about her upcoming book. So I hope you enjoy it. Before that her is a little bit more about Chelsea High.

Chelsea High by Jenny Oliver
Published by Electric Monkey on June 11, 2020
Genres: Contemporary
Amazon | Book Depository | Waterstones
Goodreads

Norah Whittaker’s upbringing has been charmingly unconventional: she’s grown up on a houseboat spending her days fishing, cherry picking and helping her mum out at her vintage market stall. As well as laughing at her chaotic dad. But when her dad’s latest get-rich plan ends up getting him arrested, everything changes.
Grandparents (incredibly rich ones) that Norah never knew had existed enrol her at exclusive Chelsea High. There are polo lessons, ski trips and parties photographed by Tatler, not to mention Coco Summers, Instagram sensation, who is determined to make Norah feel utterly unwelcome. Luckily there is also handsome Ezra who is cast opposite her in the school play.
But is he enough to persuade Norah that she belongs?

 

Interview with Jenny Oliver

Hi Jenny, thank you so much for coming on my blog. Welcome to the YA book community. I can’t wait to read your book. 

 Hi Emma, Thanks for having me!

1.Tell us a bit about Chelsea High…

Norah Whittaker’s childhood has been pretty idyllic. She’s grown up on an island on the Thames where everyone knows everyone. She works on her mum’s vintage clothes stall at Portobello market, she acts in the island theatre shows. But then her lovely dad is suddenly arrested for fraud and all their friends turn against them having lost their life-savings in his get-rich-quick schemes. Grandparents Norah knew nothing about swoop in to pay his legal fees as long as Norah is enrolled – like the generations before her – in Chelsea High, an exclusive school in the heart of London. When she turns up on her bike on the first day of term and is confronted by chauffeur driven Bentleys, students tanned from summers in St Barts, and an immediate backlash against her, Norah knows her life has changed forever. Her only hope is the school play and the gorgeous, illusive leading actor, Ezra Montgomery. 

2. This is your debut YA, as a contemporary adult writer, what inspired you to write for a different audience?  What was your inspiration behind Chelsea High?

The idea for Chelsea High had been bubbling away for years. I’d written the outline before my other books were published but I couldn’t quite make it work, something was missing. I’d created a cast of young, rich kids who went to this amazing, cliquey, bitchy, fun school where the sports lessons were polo and their parties were photographed by Tatler but it needed more conflict, a way of entering their world. Then one day, I took a trip to Eel Pie Island which is just round the corner from where I live. It’s this quirky little place with a real sense of community. The exact opposite of Chelsea High! Walking amongst the ramshackle bungalows and houseboats – buildings with giant fiberglass ice-cream cones stuck to the roof and fake sharks in the garden – the idea of Norah and her eclectic family came into being. She’s the main character of Chelsea High – her lovely life is falling down around her and it only gets worse when she’s enrolled in Chelsea High. She’s completely out of her depth! It’s sink or swim and she quickly has to learn not just to survive but to fight for who she is and everything, and everyone, she believes in. 

4. Did you face any challenges when it came to writing a young adult novel?

– I got really jealous of all the characters hanging out, having all this free time to flirt, have fun and go to parties! 

5. What has been your highlight of writing Chelsea High?

– The Chelsea High varsity jacket that my publishers had made! It hangs on the back of my chair when I work and makes it all feel very real. 

6. What was the book that drove your passion to reading and writing books?

– I’ve always been a massive fan of all types of popular culture – reading, watching TV, films – any medium that tells a story. I get really caught up in the characters and emotions and get slightly obsessive! I used to watch Grease everyday when I came home from school and was determined to somehow be a Pink Lady. I was always astounded that things existed that hit the exact spot I was looking for, that gave me that emotional rush and excitement – from Sweet Valley High to Heartbreak High, Dawson’s Creek to Jilly Cooper. The best feeling was finding that next perfect rush! 

7. Have you enjoyed any YA books recently? What has been your favourite?

– I really enjoyed Karen M. McManus’ One of Us is Lying and I’ve been saving the sequel to read on holiday. Holly Jackson’s A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder was brilliant. Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell is an all time favourite, as is Looking for Alaska by John Green. 

8. What were your favourite books when you were growing up?

– I LOVED anything by Paula Danziger and the Anastasia Krupnik books by Lois Lowry – I was desperate to be American and have pancakes for breakfast. I tended to read anything my sisters passed down to me so Judy Blume, all the Jilly Cooper books, then things that were vastly inappropriate like Lace by Shirley Conran. I’m a huge fan of Louise Rennison but I’d grown up by the time I read her books. 

9. Describe your next YA book (I hope there is one) in three words?

– Chelsea High Two. 

10. What are you currently reading?

– Once Upon a River by Diane Setterfield. It’s all a bit eerie and odd which I love. My favourite book last year was The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden which is based on Russian fairytales. I’m half Russian so it was perfect for me, and it was just the best fantasy, love story, adventure I’d read in ages. 

 Hope these questions are okay! 

–  They are fab! 😉 

Thanks for having me and happy reading xx

I love the Bear and the Nightingale. My favourite of last year too. I can’t wait to read this book in the next couple of weeks. It sounds like the perfect Summer Read! So make sure you pick up your copy.

Thank you so much to Electric Monkey for organising the tour and sending me a copy of her book.