Authors: Sarah Webb
Boy Trouble (23 page)
I must also thank my enterprising agent, Ali Gunn. Plus my very first reader and adviser, Kate Gordon, for all her hard work. Kate read the
Boy Trouble
manuscript several times and said such lovely things about it in the early stages that I just had to keep going.
To my other teen (and almost teen) editorial readers – Laura, Astrid, Annie, Naoise and Sinéad – for saying such nice things about the book.
And a big thanks to all my great friends in children’s bookselling: children’s guru at Eason Dave O’Callaghan, for the guyliner inspiration and the CDs; Amanda Dalton; honorary member of the children’s book fraternity Susan Walsh; and all the children’s buyers at Dubray Books, for their support and encouragement.
To Liz Morris for her editorial insight and her friendship; and Mary Byrne for all her help. And to fellow writers, Cathy Hopkins, Judi Curtin and Marita Conlon-McKenna for their lovely feedback.
To the dedicated and fun team at Children’s Books Ireland, and fellow children’s booksellers everywhere – keep the faith, folks!
And finally to you, the reader. Thank you so much for picking up this book. I’d love to hear from you, so please do write (
[email protected]
). I’ll try to answer in person; it may not be mega speedy, but I’ll be as quick as I can – cross my heart!
Best wishes,
Sarah XXX
Sarah Webb
worked as a children’s bookseller for years and years before becoming a full-time writer. She lives in Ireland, with her partner and young family. Writing is her dream job as she can travel, read magazines and books, watch movies, go shopping, and interrogate friends and family members – all in the name of “research”! She has a minor addiction to shoes she can’t walk in and velvet coats. She has written several adult novels, which have been published worldwide, including
Always the Bridesmaid. Amy Green Teen Agony Queen: Boy Trouble
is her first novel for young teenagers.
“A great book – it keeps you turning the pages… Fantastic … and I’m looking forward to the sequel!”
Kate, aged 13
“OMG! This is the best book eva. Had me ROFL.”
Annie, aged 13
“I absolutely loved this book – once I’d managed to wrestle it from my daughter, who couldn’t put it down. It’s wise and funny and clever, and it perfectly captures the way young teens live today.”
Judi Curtin, author of the Alice and Megan series
“I grew to really care about Amy as a character and her teen aunt, Clover, made me laugh out loud. Sarah Webb has got the roller-coaster ride of highs, lows and the in-betweens of teenage life down to a ‘T’. A great fun read.”
Cathy Hopkins, author of the Truth, Dare and the Mates, Dates series
For other great books, visit:
www.walker.co.uk
This book is dedicated to:
Robert Dunbar, for welcoming me into the children’s book world when I was a lowly bookseller in Waterstone’s.
And Paul Baggaley, who probably has no idea how much he changed my life by giving me the job in the first place.
And finally to Sam, my brilliant son, who made me stop dreaming and start writing.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or, if real, are used fictitiously. All statements, activities, stunts, descriptions, information and material of any other kind contained herein are included for entertainment purposes only and should not be relied on for accuracy or replicated as they may result in injury.
First published 2009 by Walker Books Ltd
87 Vauxhall Walk, London SE11 5HJ
2 4 6 8 10 9 7 5 3 1
Text © 2009 Sarah Webb
Cover design by Walker Books Ltd
The right of Sarah Webb to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright,
Designs and Patents Act 1988
This book has been typeset in Godlike
Printed and bound in Great Britain by Clays Ltd, St Ives plc
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, transmitted or stored in an information retrieval system in any form or by any means, graphic, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, taping and recording, without prior written permission from the publisher.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data:
a catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
ISBN 978-1-4063-1691-9
