Growing up in Bradford in a single parent family and ‘co-parented’ by her grandmothers from both sides of the family, Dawson is clear about the influence of matriarchs on both her writing and her life.


‘I was surrounded by women - a sister, a mother and two grandmothers - and it never really occurred to me that women weren’t in charge of things, so I think that’s very much an influence on all my writing.’


Dawson’s family were supportive of her transition from James to Juno Dawson, announced in October 2015, as were Hot Key. As for her fans, ‘I knew there’d certainly be one group of people who wouldn’t have any issues - my readers, because my readers are nothing but fantastic and open minded.’ While there have been some administrative headaches (from dealing with Amazon pages to public lending rights returns), Dawson believes that, professionally, the announcement may even have helped with her profile, opening up new opportunities, thanks to the current media interest in gender transitioning.


It’s not all been plain sailing and, despite being able to stop teaching to become a full-time writer as soon as she got her first book deal in 2011, Dawson is concerned about the pressure on debut authors, as a result of her own experience.


Margot’s wartime diaries are absorbing, not just for the pacey revelations about her life as a teenager, but also for the period setting, for which Dawson drew on her years of teaching primary school kids about the second world war and its blitz evacuees. She also gave herself a get-out clause on historical detail with the diary format: ‘I’m sure I’ve got some things wrong, but I think that, unless it renders the story impossible, I almost don’t care. I think what’s more important is Margot and Fliss and the drama that’s happening in their lives, not the type of soap available in 1941.’


The school library – and a hot school librarian – feature heavily in the Fliss sections of the story and, as in her other books, represent Dawson’s tribute to the vital role school libraries play in some teenagers’ lives, drawing on her own memories of school.


‘School libraries have always been a safe space for marginalised young people to not get beaten up. There is always an adult there, keeping an eye on things. From 1994 to 1999, at lunchtimes and break times, I was in the library,’ she says.


‘Publishing’s tough. If your debut doesn’t immediately catch fire, publishing can be quite a lonely place and I think, as an industry, we need to think more about building careers … I’ve worked really hard but that’s about being a freelance writer. It’s like a plumber, the more taps you fix the more you get paid. The more I write, the more I get paid.’


Dawson is certainly a grafter – and a versatile one at that. In the five years since Hollow Pike, she has published four YA novels (Cruel Summer, Say Her Name, Under My Skin and All of the Above) as well as three non-fiction self-help books (Being a Boy, This Book Is Gay and Mind Your Head) plus a World Book Day novella, Mind the Difference. She also writes a monthly column for Glamour magazine on being a transgender woman. This year she publishes three books, including an adult memoir, The Gender Games, a gothic ghost story illustrated by Alex T Smith, for Barrington Stoke, and is about to start modeling for a skincare company. However, she’s clear where her passion lies.


‘The only thing I really like doing is writing stories so, as long as I can carry on writing stories and as long as people want to carry on publishing them, I’m happy,’ she says.


Books mentioned Margot and Me, Hot Key Books, 978-1471406089, £7.99 Hollow Pike, Indigo, 978-1780621289, £6.99 Cruel Summer, Orion Children’s Books, 978-1780621753, £7.99 Say Her Name, Hot Key Books, 978-1471402449, £6.99 Under My Skin, Hot Key Books, 978-1471402968, £6.99 All of the Above, Orion Children’s Books, 978-1471404672, £6.99 Being a Boy, Red Lemon Press, 978-1783420001, £7.99 This Book Is Gay, Hot Key Books, 978-1471403958, £7.99 Mind Your Head, Hot Key Books, 978-1471405310, £7.99


Michelle Pauli is a freelance writer and editor specialising in books and education, and former deputy editor of the Guardian children’s books site.


Books for Keeps No.222 January 2017 11


Photo: Joel Ryder


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