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Joanne Owen - Editorial Expert

Joanne Owen is a writer, reviewer and workshop presenter whose lifelong love of books began when she was growing up in Pembrokeshire, Wales. An early passion for culture, story and folklore led her to read archaeology and anthropology at St John’s, Cambridge, after which she led the UK children’s book team for a major international retailer, going on to market books for Bloomsbury, Macmillan, Walker Books, Nosy Crow and Rough Guides. She now divides her time between writing, travel writing, reviewing and hosting writing workshops.

Joanne is the author of several books for children and young adults, among them the Martha Mayhem series, the Carnegie Medal-nominated Puppet Master, and You Can Write Awesome Stories, a how-to guide to creative writing. She’s also worked on a major community story project for the National Literacy Trust (Story Quest), and a number of travel guides, including The Rough Guide to Responsible Wales and guidebooks to the Caribbean region. In additional, she’s an occasional chair of LoveReading LitFest events, and judge for the 2023 Branford Boase Award.

Latest Features By Joanne Owen

Christmas creations — four festive writing prompts sparked by the season of sparkle!

Witchy words and potent potion poems - writing activities inspired by witches

Word-themed walks on the wild side - taking creative inspiration from enjoying autumn in the great outdoors.

Summer sizzlers for Young Adults – the best YA novels set in summer

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Latest Reviews By Joanne Owen

While YA romantasy is having a moment, Emily Varga's For She is Wrath debut will surely stand the test of time and maintain its place on shelves — and in readers’ hearts — for the long-haul. An inventive gender-flipped Pakistani re-telling of The Count of Monte Cristo, it’s propelled by furious drama from the off, and never lets up as it tells a thrilling story of revenge, betrayal and relentlessly passionate love that shimmers with dark magic and devastating dilemmas. As a result of being betrayed by someone she loved and trusted, Dania has been ... View Full Review

First in a trilogy (huzzah!), Rachel Delahaye’s Electric Life deserves to be held up as a paragon of YA dystopian fiction. Fronted by a character to root for — a young woman whose every decision, dilemma, danger, doubt and desire cuts to the core of what it means to feel alive — it’s set in future versions of London that feel freakily familiar. Alara lives in Estrella, the hyper-sanitised “Star City” in which everything is digitally monitored, and everything is safe. A place in which no one can be ... View Full Review

Set in 1902, and inspired by a real science prize that promised 100,000 francs to anyone who could communicate with life on another planet and receive a response back, Sarah Merrett’s The Others tells a rather splendid story of family secrets, friendship, and a race against time to save a blue-glowing alien lifeform from the clutches of an evil professor. While Reuben longs to be “normal”, he’s anything but. He lives in an observatory with his astronomer grandma who’s determined to win the Guzman Prize: “Since the competition was announced two years ago, ... View Full Review

With shades of Sliding Doors and Coraline, Rachel Delahaye’s Splinters explores identity, the repercussion of the decisions we make, responsibility, and “giving yourself and others the space to do the right thing” (to quote its protagonist) with gripping invention. Jean is a whip-smart teenager — often wittily funny, she has a tendency to overthink, and to wish her life were different. Then, after moving house and discovering that a mirror invented by her room’s former occupant offers a window into alternate versions of yourself, the possibility of having a different ... View Full Review

As gratifying as gobbling down a whole globe of Terry’s Chocolate Orange in one go (and every bit as chunky!), Charlie and the Christmas Factory presents a bedazzlement of Dahl-inspired tales for the festive season, all tied together perfectly by Rikin Parekh’s lively illustrations. The concept is top-notch — twelve writers creating a brand-new story based on their favourite Dahl character. So here we have, for example, Sibéal Pounder, author of the Witch Wars Adventure series, imagining how Charlie might celebrate Christmas in the Chocolate Factory, while TV star Adam ... View Full Review

Serving mystery-mad kids a thrilling feast of festive crime fiction, Fleur Hitchcock’s Murder at Wintertide sees a couple of cousins put their heads together to solve a series of murders during a pre-Christmas break. As soon as George arrives in the house by the sea, he starts joining lots of dots that must be connected. First, a roadside argument. Next the strange lights he witnessed over the cliffs, then a dead body. After joining forces with his cousin Isla, George makes more vital connections long before the police, though the twist in the tale comes as a ... View Full Review

Told across 25 fun-filled chapters, and packed with high-stakes holiday season hijinks, LD Lapinski’s Biggest Christmas Secret Ever is a warm-hearted wonder of festive fiction. Harper and Will’s lovely white-bearded stepdad Nick leads something of a double life — one that can never be revealed, for he’s none other than the actual Father Christmas. If anyone were to find out his secret, “That could mean the end of Christmas as we know it”, Nick fears. So, when baby sister Yula starts exhibiting signs that she might be the successor to Nick’s ... View Full Review

Alongside exploring loneliness and loss — and being lost — there’s a bounty of bravery and beauty between the pages of Susan Cahill’s The World Between the Rain. Rooted in the raw realities of grief, there’s a dream-like quality to this enchanting story that sees a girl shift from drowning in grief to being flooded by love via a watery world of gods and demons that lies between the rain. Just before Halloween, on the cusp of her thirteenth birthday, Marina is struggling with losing her dad — a man who&... View Full Review

No one does personalised picture books better than Tickled Moon. Unlike most other publishers in this arena, the narrative — and message — of Tickled Moon books is never compromised for the sake of personalisation. Rather, they’re always thoughtful, compelling, totally child-centred, and truly work as stories in their own right — stories that are always paired with the perfect illustrative style. In the case of Tickled Moon’s latest offering, Alison Reddihough’s All the Love in the World shares joyous, loving letters between a child and adult — you ... View Full Review

From its gloriously gothic setting, to its chilling cast of characters, Eibhlis Carcione’s Black Gables seeps seriously sinister vibes, much like the author’s kookily spooky Welcome to Dead Town Raven McKay. A creepy closed-world mystery that closes in ever creepily, this is a story for readers who aren’t afraid of things that go bump in the night. Rather, this terrifying tale comes recommended for those who’d go looking for lake ghouls that rise from murky waters, such as those that haunt the pages of ... View Full Review

What kind of Christmas does Santa have? Turns out, the man who makes Christmas special has a Christmas that’s anything but — until now. Sparkling with the true magic of Christmas — caring, sharing and being kind — Mac Barnett and Sydney Smith’s Santa's First Christmas is sure to prompt plenty of pre-bedtime talk around Santa and thinking of others. Witty, and as warming as a mug of thick chocolate, this has the feel of a Christmas classic that’ll be read year on year. As for the story, after ... View Full Review

Framed by a boundlessly boisterous narrative voice that speaks directly to the reader and is all but impossible to resist, Susannah Lloyd's Badgers Are GO! is a sure-fire, read-in-one-sitting winner of a story for 7+-year-olds who adore madcap animal adventures. “What-ho, young badgers!” So begins this blast of quirky fiction in typically animated fashion as we’re introduced to the TOP SECRET story of Lulu Whifferton-Rear, a badger who receives a letter informing her that she has “a glorious and industrious future! There is work to be done! And it will be your ... View Full Review