Announcing my new book deal – Body Brilliant

I am very delighted to announce that I’ve just signed a contract for my next book, Body Brilliant, a follow-up to Positively Teenage. Body Brilliant – an examination of what body image is, what influences it and how to a positive one – will be published in July 2019 by Watts Wayland, the same imprint of the Hachette Children’s Group as Positively Teenage.

I’ve already said that I’ll be working with Haggerston School in Hackney on this title and I met the wonderful student volunteers last week. (Great to see such an even mix of boys and girls, as well as all ages from Y7 to Y11 and many different ethnic backgrounds.) We had a wide-ranging chat about social media, celebrity idols, wearing the hijab, pressure for boys, My Little Pony, Barbie and Bob the Builder…

From the Managing Editor (my lovely editor) Victoria Brooker: ‘I’m delighted that Nicola has agreed to do a follow-up to Positively Teenage; Nicola’s expertise in writing for and about this age group is well-known and well-respected. Body Brilliant will be a fantastic resource for both teens and their parents. Children are bombarded with information and images – through the media and their peers – about themselves, and it’s often very challenging to navigate.’

Body image is such an important and fascinating topic, especially when you dig into the psychology involved. I’m so looking forward to sharing the science and understanding with young people and their significant adults. But it’s an incredibly sensitive topic, too, particularly when we think about some of the ways that a negative body image can affect some lives so deeply: eating disorders, body hatred, body dysmorphia, as well as the constant quest for “perfection” that some people go through (and the money they may spend and the risks they may take in seeking it). And then there are situations or conditions that can make it extra difficult to have a positive body image: such as some disabilities, medical conditions or disfigurements.

It’s not enough that I share scientific understanding with this book: I also want to show a range of real, lived experiences. That’s where the school comes in but it’s also where you could come in.

Soon, I’ll be asking for YOUR help and calling for experiences, opinions, comments from teenagers and adults on a range of specific topics.

What I really want to know is how Hachette will come up with a cover as bright as the Positively Teenage one!