Letter


Issue 6,103 On the cover


Maggie Stiefvater photographed by Stephen Voss


Adolescence raises questions around the role of books Philip Jones


Editor, The Bookseller T


here are no books in Adolescence. The much-talked-about Netflix drama that details the aftermath of a murder of a young girl by a 13-year-old boy in an English town


is an arresting watch that has focused attention on social media and how misogynistic messages are spread online. But both within the four-part series, and also around the conversation that has followed, books are pretty much absent. The series begins with a police raid on the


family home of the culprit – Jamie, played by Owen Cooper – before he is taken into custody. For the eagle-eyed there are a couple of books next to Jamie’s bed in those first few scenes of this episode, but never referenced. The series ends in the same house, as episode four portrays his parents’ attempts to come to terms with the actions of the child they raised. In this denouement, Jamie’s trajectory is mapped out by his parents – from drawing, to football, to boxing (briefly), to computer games, to social media. What could we have done, his mother wants to know. “We couldn’t have done anything about it,” his father flat-bats back, as the pair alight on the malign influence of social media. That books are largely invisible in the scenario made up by the show’s creators


The official charts This week’s number ones


Contents In this week’s magazine p32


– co-writer Jack Thorne, the actor Stephen Graham and producer Jo Johnson – can hardly be a surprise. A recent survey by the National Literacy Trust found that just 35% of eight to 18-year-olds enjoy reading in their spare time, with that cohort now at its lowest ever level. Boys read less than girls, and there is a consider- able drop-off as children move into secondary school. The absence of books from the fictional universe of Adolescence is entirely consistent with what is also happening in reality. The lack of books in the discussion around


Adolescence is also telling. Talks around ampli- fying the benefits of reading have been ongoing for some time, with World Book Day, Books Are My Bag, Independent Bookshop Week, Quick Reads and the Summer Reading Challenge all part of a healthy mix of industry- led initiatives that have been shown to be impactful. But, post-pandemic, there was talk about stepping this up again. Two years ago at The Bookseller’s Marketing & Publicity Conference, we brainstormed some thoughts around what a new reading campaign might look like, with ideas ranging from hashtags such as #ReadOneThing to a partnership with the dating app Hinge. At the Bologna Children’s Book Fair, minds have again been focused with suggestions of a “general advertising campaign”. There is a question around who funds it, United Agents’ Jodie Hodges told us, and also around who should be taking the lead. At Prime Minister Starmer’s gathering to


According to the NLT, children who enjoy reading are three times more likely to have good mental wellbeing than children who do not


discuss the impact of the drama, Anne Mensah, Netflix vice-president of UK Content, said: “Adolescence has captured the national mood, sparking conversations and helping articulate the pressures young people and parents face in today’s society.” According to the NLT, children who enjoy reading are three times more likely to have good mental wellbeing than children who do not. There are bigger issues at play here, but when I look at some of the proposed action points around education and empathy, books are already a key player, with reading for pleasure a life-enhancer. Books will not be the only solution, of course,


but they do at least need to be part of the conversation. And to Hodges’ point, it is all our jobs to make sure they are.


Books Author Profiles: Maggie Stiefvater Kristina Rahim


New Titles: Fiction, Intro PRINT E-BOOK AUDIO


6 8


10-11


New Titles: Fiction, Top 10 12-13 New Titles: Fiction, Listings 14-20


Average selling price Year/Year rise £9.25 +8.6% Spotlight: Discover Spotlight: Food & drink


22-25 26-29


p8 Bologna Book Fair Round-up 30-31 05


Charts The Official UK Top 50 Fiction


Non-Fiction Children’s


Audio & Digital Market Spotlight


Classified Jobs in Books


32 34 35 36 37 38


40


Welcome


JO MIESZKOWSKI


Comment


Leader


04.04.25


Tasty titles


The Food &Drink Spotlight dishes out a helping of 2025’s most


delicious books


Happy family Kristina Rahim


shines a light on the experience of


donor-conceived children


YA novelist Maggie Stiefvater on the release of her first adult title and the


allure of the unknown PP06-07


Wonders never cease


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