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I just want and need everyone to love this book because it was just so wonderful. And so hilarious. Below are a couple of examples of sessions I have already ran in the past but I am always keen to hear from schools who might be interested in something specific that is not listed. I do not expect disabled students to sit quietly during my talks and encourage those who need to move around or stim to do so. None of my sessions require paper or pens etc, though students are welcome to make notes or draw if it helps them participate. Making Myth Your Own A very clear book on approaching positivity and good mental health. Includes lots of helpful exercises and covers topics such as coping, cultivating positive emotions and wellbeing. Not a deep book on mental health but good habits to use day to day. There’s a thief at large, stealing presents from houses on one street, but who is the culprit? One Christmas Night is a brilliant story about the connections and secrets and lives of people on one street, told through nine different points of view. A novel about love, grief, hope and community. Hodder & Stoughton has acquired Make You Mine This Christmas, a queer festive rom-com by autistic editor and author Lizzie Huxley-Jones.
Lizzie Huxley-Jones (they/them) is an autistic author and editor based in London. They are the author of the forthcoming queer holiday rom-com Make You Mine This Christmas (2022) from Hodder Studio, and Vivi Conway and the Sword of Legend (2023) from Knights Of. They write joyful stories that centre queerness and disability. The fifth glass is unarguably clean. Especially because Haf has been pretending to scrub at a stain that isn't there, like a horny Lady Macbeth wanting to prolong the moment." for a half day school visit. A half day visit means two sessions maximum, for no longer than three hours. Book signing can be structured however the school prefers. When eleven year old Addie learns about the witch trials in Scotland and recognises the similarities with the plight of autistic and different women now, she campaigns for a memorial to their deaths. Beautiful moments between two autistic siblings.
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It is very much a book of my heart – my love of rom-coms, being perennially online, and my constant unseasonal desire for Christmas food. I’m so honoured to work with the brilliant, insightful Bea Fitzgerald as my editor and be steered by my wonderful cheerleader agent, Abi Fellows – truly a dream team who made this book an absolute dream to write.” Characters: Haf is a fat bisexual white Welsh wildlife charity communications worker in her early to mid-20s. She was written as someone with undiagnosed autistim and is unaware of her diagnosis. Kit is a 28 year old disabled lesbian white architect. Her brother Christopher is a 26 year old bisexual white financial analyst/investment advisor. Kit and Christopher’s parents have dogs named Stella and Luna. This is set in York and Oxlea, England. A graphic novel that tells the story of Marguerite, a woman who realises that she might be autistic. Stunningly told through beautiful art with great use of colour. Essays about life as a non-verbal autistic written by a thirteen year old Japanese boy. Very poignant and lyrical, written in short vignettes. When Ramya's estranged but beloved grandfather dies, he leaves her a mysterious notebook with a warning inside: Beware the Sirens. She must uncover the world of the Hidden Folk throughout Edinburgh, solve the mystery of her grandfather's book, and battle the misconceptions about dyspraxia that she faces at every turn. Brilliant, magical fun with a classic McNicoll emotional whallop. Autistic prominent character & autistic author
for a full day school visit. A full day visit means four sessions maximum, for no longer than six hours. Book signing can be structured however the school prefers. This was exactly the holiday romcom I needed right now! Super funny, really cute, body-/gender-/disability-positive, and narrated to perfection! An adorable Christmas novel filled with terrible schemes, a grand ball and one very horrible goose’ KAT DUNN All the Weight of our Dreams: On Living Racialised Autism edited by Lydia X. Z. Brown, E. Ashkenazy and Morénike Giwa Onaiwu Extremely funny and autistically-frank, Drama Queen follows Sara quite literally from birth through her life, taking us through relationships, grief and her career as a comedy writer. Drama Queen is a story of extrovert autistics, those of us who demanded attention and stood up performing in front of others, but inside were struggling far more than we could explain.Both collections explore experiences of over 25 autistic people, through their relationships with other people and (in bittersweet) a wider variety of experiences as an autistic person. The accounts are moving, interesting and often very frank. Especially since Haf’s best friend and roommate Ambrose, who is an influencer, was tweeting about it! I adored Ambrose but they really should have known better. That said, I fully demand an Ambrose story because I want to know more about their influencer life and aspiring fashion design plans and whether Paco is worthy of them. Why Kit and Haf feel the need to pretend they’ve never crossed paths before I’m not sure but it definitely adds tension so I’ll take it. To be fair, that’s only one of the things that don’t make sense. Why does Haf act like she’s cheating on Christopher? Why doesn’t she talk to him? The fake relationship thing is only supposed to last for a week or so, she wouldn’t be betraying him. A lot of the drama is Haf’s doing or thinking. However, I didn’t mind. I was having way too much fun to care and it fits the character anyway. Haf is unhinged and exhausting and wonderful. A really great example of translation of thought and needs between an autistic person and her mother. Emma’s chapters explore a number of typical issues for young autistic people, which are then translated into neurotypical by Penny, with key points and advice. Strongly recommended for parents. A really great academic textbook summarising the latest autism research. Each chapter is ended with a reflection from a member of the autistic community, and discusses research critically.
Haf was the reason this worked so well for me. She toed the line of how much of a hot mess character I can handle but there was something so endearing about her. Plus, it helped knowing she was in her early to mid-20s. She’s still got a whole lot of life to figure out! She’s very klutzy to boot but nothing that happened to her and Christopher read as over the top to me or as an unnecessary shenanigan. It was all very organic. Though as with all books striving for romcom status, your mileage may vary. This didn’t ever make me laugh out loud but it was pretty light and humorous in tone. Bravo Lizzie. Bravo. A book that will definitely become part of my regular read again pile, particularly once Christmas approaches. May: I chaired a panel about best friends in YA literature at Chadwell Heath YA Festival, interviewing Non Pratt, Alice Oseman, Mary Bello and Chloe Seager. 2017 This memoir charts Katherine’s attempt to walk the South West Coastal Path as she adjusts to her late autism diagnosis and reframes her past life in a newly autistic focus. Lyrical and very beautiful. The dogs, clearly aware of the sexual tension above them, start whining very loudly. They probably think she's having some kind of medical emergency from all the physiological signs of being completely mortified and horny all at once."
After the year from hell, Haf is ready to blow off steam at a Christmas party. A no-strings-attached kiss with a stranger under the mistletoe is just what she needs. Perfect for fans of Sarah Morgan, Laura Kay and Carol - this is sheer festive joy as you've always wanted to see it. The ending made me so happy! Kit and Haf may not have known each other long but I am fully in their corner and wish them nothing but the best. I enjoyed the chemistry and how tastefully it all pans out. There was no really big drama which normally I find in books like this. A dual POV novel about a group of friends following three friends – Charlie, Taylor and Jamie – as they arrive at SupaCon, the world’s best fandom convention. Taylor’s storyline follows her meeting her fave author, entering a contest and trying not to think about kissing Jamie.
Related: I didn’t know gingerbread house baking could be laden with so much sexual tension! It was impressive. After a year from hell, Haf is ready to blow off steam at a Christmas party: a kind stranger, a few too many drinks and suddenly she's kissing Christopher under the mistletoe - in front of his ex-girlfriend. The next day the news is out that they're apparently a couple, madly in love and coming to Oxlea to spend the festive season with Christopher's family. But Haf doesn't have better holiday plans and to save her new friend from embarrassment, she agrees to pretend to be Christopher's girlfriend for Christmas. It has the makings of a hilarious anecdote they'll be telling for years. Until Haf meets Christopher's sister: the mysterious, magnetic and utterly irresistible Kit. Maybe love was waiting for Haf in this quiet little town all along . . . Perfect for fans of Sarah Morgan, Laura Kay and Carol - this is sheer festive joy as you've always wanted to see it. The original cover and Afterlight special edition cover was illustrated by Kerry Hyndman. The new pink cover was designed and illustrated by Debs Lim and Natalie Chen.
Clover and Fergus are the great-great grandchildren of Wendy Darling. When visiting London, Peter Pan comes to call and transports them to Neverland. But what they take with them transforms the land, and Fergus brought along his book of Greek myths. Wonderful story, with good autistic & non-autistic sibling relationship exploration. From Haf's first interaction with Christopher, I knew this book was going to be an all time new favourite of mine and I am so glad that I wasn't wrong. A memoir exploring transition, autism and addiction and how all three have been a large part of growing up for games writer Laura Kate Dale. Honest, very frank and hopeful. After a near-death experience, chronically ill Chloe Brown decides it’s time to live a little, so makes a list of all the bad things she wants to do. And she knows just the man to help her — Red, the superintendent artistic bad boy. Insatiably horny, great fun, incredible chronic pain rep (named as fibromyalgia but reads very like hEDS too). Luna Rae has just moved to a new house with her family and started a totally new school when her mum disappears. Really, Luna Rae just wants to be a detective, watching the people on her new street, or hiding in the amazing treehouse with her new friend. But when her new school announces a parent-child baking competition, Luna Rae decides this will be the best way to bring her mum home. Mature, compassionate story of having to take charge when the adults won’t or can’t.
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