Scholastic UK’s Linas Alsenas has acquired two YA novels by Polly Crosby at auction, the first of which will publish in January 2024!

About This Tale is Forbidden:

This Tale is Forbidden is a bold novel that upends the fairytales we know with a feminist message of empowerment. Main character Nesta and her grandmother live in the woods, safe and far away from the city, where women live under the oppressive regime of the authorities, under values espoused by The Book of Fairytales.

When her grandmother is taken, Nesta must go to the city to save her. Along the way Nesta discovers she has the power to uncover the true stories of the past – and that makes her dangerous. Can she evade the authorities long enough to find a way to tell the truth and bring magic back into the world, liberating everyone?

Polly comments for The Bookseller: "When I started writing This Tale is Forbidden in the middle of the first Covid lockdown, life outside the four walls of my house felt extremely frightening. Writing this book – and befriending its feisty, fearless protagonist – gave me a world into which I could escape.

"From my very first conversation with Linas, I was absolutely blown away by his vision for my story, and I am utterly thrilled to be working with him alongside such a renowned publisher as Scholastic."

Linas added: “From the very first page, I was totally invested in Nesta’s quest, which quickly turns into an epic fight against the patriarchy. Polly’s riveting novel is a richly imagined takedown of the fairytale stories we all know well, which she re-presents back to us as dystopian twisted tales.

"I can’t wait for YA readers to discover it, because the first thing you want to do after finishing reading is to urgently press it into someone else’s hands!”

Juliet added: "Polly has created a lush, darkly imagined world for young readers to sink their teeth into — I’m excited for Scholastic to launch her to a new generation of readers."