The intro to What Would Boudicca Do? by Elisabeth Foley and Beth Coates, a cheerfully irreverent advice guide for young women, tells us that ‘life can be troublesome for modern gals.’ Whether it’s being generally underestimated, or dealing with the specifics of bullying, body shaming, or toxic relationships, our girls are still, in 2018, living under the shadow of centuries of patriarchal oppression. But what of our foresisters, those who lived in a world where feminism hadn’t even been invented? Take a dip into this collection of everyday problems as tackled by inspirational women in history. Your very own agony aunts from a bygone past.

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Davie is in bed, hiding in the shadows behind his bedroom curtains. Aching from the recent death of his father, a bright future seems an impossibility. But change is a-coming and the extraordinary events of one summer’s day in a northern English town will set this sad boy on a quest to find a murder suspect and rekindle his own vital spark. Laced with the supernatural, David Almond’s latest offering is an enigmatic tale. You’re in for a spellbinding treat.

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‘My heart feels like it’s been sliced down the middle and every painful thing that’s ever happened is oozing from it.’ Olive is standing on the edge of a cliff, screaming up at the sky. Screaming because she feels scared and worthless and wants that feeling to end. The outstretched hand of a policeman coaxes her away from oblivion, and Olive finds herself agreeing to a month’s trial treatment at a teenage mental health facility. We join her at Camp Reset, as she struggles with therapy, relationships, and the biggest dilemma of all, how to make this crazy world a kinder place. Are We All Lemmings and Snowflakes? by Holly Bourne is the latest from one of our most popular YA authors.

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So let’s take a towering classic of Russian literature, re-imagine it with lashings of adolescent angst, and then offer it up in its original verse form to a contemporary teen readership. You’d be forgiven for having your doubts, but I’m happily applauding In Paris With You by Clémentine Beauvais for the vision and audacity in this unique take on Eugene Onegin.

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So how does it feel to be ‘eighteen and internationally reviled,’ the prime casualty of a slut-shaming scandal? Izzy O’Neill tells us straight in this sparky YA debut by Laura Steven. When photos emerge of Izzy, a senator’s son and a frisky episode on a garden bench, she is propelled into a scandal of epic proportions, one in which she is hounded by a society that simultaneously objectifies and shames sexually active young women.

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