Top Ten Tuesday - Top Ten Debut Authors

This is a list of the ten authors who, despite having only released one book so far, have got me hugely excited about their next one. Alphabetical order as it would be far too hard to separate them in any other way!


Teresa Flavin - While she's credited on numerous picture books The Blackhope Enigma is a first YA novel written by the superb illustrator Teresa Flavin. As you'd expect, given her other job, it's particularly strong when looking at the art involved in this excellent fantasy.


Paige Harbison - I found Here Lies Bridget a little hit or miss but enjoyed it and liked the strong moral message. I'll be really interested to see what her second book's like.


Gregory Hughes - I was less keen on Unhooking The Moon than many people for reasons I won't go into for risk of turning spoilery - however there's no doubt that Hughes is an excellent writer with a real gift for creating engaging characters. I just hope I enjoy the ending of his next book more! (Note: The review is by Jill Murphy for the Bookbag as I never got round to doing one myself.)


Curtis Jobling - Blatantly cheating here as Jobling has a number of well-received books out before writing Wereworld: Rise of the Wolf. However, I'm justifying it by saying this is the first he's written which isn't a picture book. (I'm not knocking picture books for a second, I just really wanted to include this!) Yes, it's a stretch, but why not bend the rules to feature the most outstanding high fantasy epic in YA fiction for several years. I'm desperate to read the sequel!


Savita Kalhan - The Long Weekend was the one of the tensest thrillers I've read for a long time, with a superb central hero in Sam and a chillingly plausible premise as he and his friend Lloyd fell into the hands of a dangerous man.


Irfan Master - Master's A Beautiful Lie is a gorgeously written slice of historical fiction which deals with friendship, family, and whether telling the truth is always the right thing to do. Both charming and exciting, it's also impressive for how strongly Master evokes 1940's India. Whether his next novel is set in that same time and place or elsewhere, I'm sure it will be just as engaging.


Ali McNamara - The written equivalent of the chick flicks it's based on, McNamara's From Notting Hill With Love... Actually is a really refreshing read - light and frothy with tons of movie references to spot. Definitely looking forward to her next.


Jandy Nelson - Nelson's The Sky Is Everywhere was the most heartbreakingly beautiful novel of last year for me and is the one YA book I would recommend to pretty much anyone who loves great writing. Can't wait to see what she does next!


Katherine Rundell - I'll be honest and admit I wasn't particularly keen on The Girl Savage; I didn't like the characters much and found it difficult to care about what happened to them. However, Rundell's writing style is really good and I'll certainly take a look at her next book in the hope I prefer the cast in that one.


Joss Stirling - Did we really need another paranormal teen romance? Yes, when it was Finding Sky ... concentrating on the intensity of the love between savants Zed and Sky as she comes to learn about her gift, this stood out from the pack. While it seemed to end as a stand-alone, I'd love to read more by Stirling, whether her next one is about Sky or another character.