I Was Born for This

Alice Oseman gets better with every novel she writes, and that's an indisputable fact. I WAS BORN FOR THIS is the story of Angel - megafan of The Ark, and in particular, of Jimmy, the sweet, compelling heart of the band. She's all set for a week in London with Juliet - the best friend she's about the meet offline for the first time - culminating in them meeting the band before a huge concert at the O2. Meanwhile Jimmy is trying his best to hold it together, as anxiety threatens to destroy him. Life in a world-famous band isn't all it's cracked up to be, and both Angel and Jimmy are about to find that out the hard way.

Once again, Alice has taken themes that other authors might easily, accidentally butcher, and treated them with care, respect and love. Fandom, mental health, friendship, sexuality, gender - all feature in the most delicate, realistic ways. Nothing is heavily handled. At no point is it preachy. It doesn't deal in Life Lessons, and the broad spectrum of characters never feels like lip-service. In less capable hands it could easily have become 'after school special'. But it never comes close to that. So what you end up with is an on-the-nail story about a boy and girl on seemingly very different paths, gently hurtling towards each other, and disaster. Supported by a colourful cast of bandmates, industry professionals, journalists, parents, grandparents and of course, superfans, it's a beautiful, heartbreaking look at how things aren't always what they seem.

I hope in future schools have Alice's books on the GCSE curriculum. Actually, they should have her now