Northern Soul

From award-winning author Phil Earle comes the hilariously agonising account of one teenage boy’s disastrous attempts to win the heart of the cool new girl at school. Up until now, Marv’s uneventful life has revolved around playing football with his best mate, Jimmy. But things take a turn for the dramatic with the arrival at school of new girl Carly Stonehouse. Marv falls in love at first sight, but there’s no way a girl like Carly will ever look at him. Unless, perhaps, he enlists help from a very unusual source. Follow Marv on his hilariously agonising quest for love, featuring his Croc-loving dad, a fast-food addicted musical idol from the past and some of the most cringeworthy song lyrics you might ever have heard …

“Delightfully, toe-curlingly cringe for any teen who’s ever felt useless around their crush. Hilarious and heart-warming” – Holly Bourne “A brilliantly funny and achingly real story that perfectly captures the life of a teenage boy in all of its awkward, cringy glory. I absolutely loved it!” – Simon James Green “Phil Earle’s hilarious first-love story is for everyone who’s ever dared to fall head-over-heels. It’s note-perfect portrayal of discovering romance is guaranteed to make you laugh, cringe and cheer” – Keith Gray “Charmingly awkward, angsty and very funny. Northern Soul will strike a chord with all of us who have embarrassed ourselves for love” – Jenny Pearson “Funny, sharp and full of the hilarious horrors of teenage life. No one can tell a story quite like Phil Earle” – Katya Balen “Awkward, tender and dull of soul. A Spin the Bottle merry-go-round of a story” – Steven Camden “A joyous read!” – Lisa Thompson “A tale of young love, dating disasters, and the ghost of Otis Redding eating kebabs, this was excrutiating and hilarious – and I never want to be a teenager again” – Alastair Chisholm “I absolutely loved it. It’s so sweet, funny, relatable, well paced and original …” – Sarah Crossan “I've read pretty well every word Phil Earle has written, but this might just be my favourite of his books. So funny, so charming, so true. This is what it feels like to be a 14 year old boy in love for the first time.” – Anthony McGowan “I absolutely loved Northern Soul – snort out loud funny, heartfelt and mortifying in equal measure, it's like OTIS, THONGS AND FULL FRONTAL SNOGGING. It wears its heart on its sleeve, and the sleeve has ketchup stains on it.” – Ross Montgomery

PHIL EARLE was born and raised in Hull and kick-started his love of books with a job as a children's bookseller. Phil now works in children’s publishing and is the award-winning author of several books for young readers including Get Me Out of Here, a recent collaboration with Andy McNab, and the young adult novels Being Billy, and Mind the Gap. Phil's When the Sky Falls was Waterstones Children's Book of the Month for June 2021.