Sophie Someone

Shortlisted for the Costa Children's Book Award.A remarkable tale of confusion and betrayal - and a very special girl called Sophie.'Some stories are hard to tell.Even to your very best friend. And some words are hard to get out of your mouth. Because they spell out secrets that are too huge to be spoken out loud.But if you bottle them up, you might burst.So here's my story. Told the only way I dare tell it.'Sophie Nieuwenleven is sort of English and sort of Belgian. Sophie and her family came to live in Belgium when she was only four or five years old, but she's fourteen now and has never been quite sure why they left England in the first place. Then, one day, Sophie makes a startling discovery. Finally Sophie can unlock the mystery of who she really is. This is a story about identity and confusion - and feeling so utterly freaked out that you just can't put it into words. But it's also about hope. And the belief that, somehow, everything will work out OK.SOPHIE SOMEONE is a tale of well-intentioned but stupid parenting, shock, acceptance and, ultimately, forgiveness, written in a brave, memorable and unique language all of its own.

This is an absolutely exquisite book from start to finish... Not only is Sophie an incredibly endearing character but the language of the book is simply fabulous. Sophie uses code in order to make her story easier to tell, so, for example, 'legs' become 'lemmings', 'brother' becomes 'bruiser' and 'friend' becomes 'freckle'. Amazingly the code is never confusing, which further highlights what an extremely talented writer Long is, and it adds an extra layer of enjoyment to reading the book. This story will warm the cockles of your 'heater' while bringing 'terrapins' to your eyes., Told in a quirky voice and half in code, and benefitting from clever typesetting, this story about identity, secrets and hope will resonate with young teen readers, At times emotional and others laugh aloud funny, A tale of confusion and betrayal, with a unique narrative style. Shortlisted for the Costa, now in paperback., · 'This novel is extremely well written, and the plot is exceptionally engaging. The book is written in a style that I have never seen before (...). The novel Sophie Someone was well strung together, had strong, unique characters and was a sweet, lovely tale in general. I would rate this an 8/10 because it was a wonderful book that I would recommend to children ages eleven to fourteen

Hayley Long began writing teen fiction while working as an English teacher in Cardiff. Her first teen novel, Lottie Biggs is Not Mad, was awarded the White Raven label for outstanding children's literature by the International Youth Library. Since then her fingers haven't stopped typing. Hayley has been a winner of the Essex Book Award, and shortlisted for the Costa Book Award - twice! Hayley has also enjoyed the razzle-dazzle of being a Queen of Teen nominee. Hayley has now published two books with Hot Key, SOPHIE SOMEONE and her first non-fiction title, BEING A GIRL in 2014. Follow Hayley on Facebook at www.facebook.com/HayleyLongAuthor