Brian Conaghan was born and raised in the Scottish town of Coatbridge but now lives in Dublin. He has a Master of Letters in Creative Writing from the University of Glasgow. For many years Brian worked as a teacher and taught in Scotland, Italy and Ireland. His first YA novel for Bloomsbury, When Mr Dog Bites, was shortlisted for the 2015 Carnegie Medal, and his second, The Bombs That Brought Us Together, won the 2016 Costa Children's Book Award. We Come Apart, a verse novel co-authored with Carnegie Medal winner Sarah Crossan, won the 2018 UKLA Book Award, and his fourth novel, The Weight of a Thousand Feathers, won the 2018 Irish Book Award for Teen & Young Adult Book of the Year.

@BrianConaghan

WINNER OF THE AN POST IRISH BOOK AWARDS TEEN & YOUNG ADULT BOOK OF THE YEAR 2018

SHORTLISTED FOR THE CBI BOOK OF THE YEAR AWARD 2019

LONGLISTED FOR THE CILIP CARNEGIE MEDAL 2019

Angry, stirring and tender, this is a bold, questioning exploration of the lengths to which we'll go for the people we love. From the Costa Children's Book Award winning author of When Mr Dog Bites and The Bombs That Brought Us Together.

Bobby Seed has questions. What's another word for 'thesaurus'? How can I tell Bel I want her as my girl friend, not my girlfriend? How much pain is Mum in today? Has she taken her pills? And sometimes, secretly, Why us?

Bobby's little brother Danny has questions too. Will Bobby let him have Rice Krispies for dinner? And can he stay up late on the computer? And why won't Mum's stupid illness just GO AWAY?

But it's Mum's question for Bobby that could turn everything on its head. It's the Big One. The Unthinkable One. If Bobby agrees, he won't just be soothing her pain. He'll be helping to end it.

Would he? Could he?

Perfect for readers of Patrick Ness and Malorie Blackman.

Conaghan is a sublime storyteller who can make the reader hang on his every last word (and all of the others)

An emotional rollercoaster of a book, written with so much heart it bounces off of the page . A bold, life-affirming read

This beautiful novel deals sensitively with the topics of illness, love, sexuality, friendship and dignified death

Beautifully observed and hilariously uncomfortable

Laughter is inevitable

This is a portrayal of young male bonding, complete with all the lively banter of true camaraderies, at its most tender and affectionate

An outstanding debut, packed with energy and a brilliant distinctive voice

Believable, funny, brave and vulnerable young male characters . thought-provoking novel . drama and tension in plenty . irrepressible humour

Humanity and humour thread through the challenging storyline from the first page to the very last

A hard-hitting, heartbreaking tale . One sentence after another knocks the reader out

The characterisation is superb . A remarkably brave story

Conaghan's lightness of touch and sense of humour shine through this heartbreaking story, and each of the characters lingers in the imagination long after the final page

Although it's heartbreaking at times, there's also tenderness and humour . T he tremendous empathy with which Conaghan writes about young people is impressive