Crawley mum tackles tough subjects for teens in latest book

Eve Ainsworth was at the shop in the Martlet’s on Saturday sharing her new book, Crush, with shoppers.

The mum of two was inspired to write her latest young adult fiction book by the pain she saw done in teen age relationships when she was young.

That continued in her working life where she helped students in local schools with pastoral issues.

She said: “This book is about a toxic and controlling teen romance. Love hurts, but should it hurt this much?

“I’m so excited about this one as I think that relationship abuse amongst teens is a topic that is not discussed widely enough.

“I will also be promoting Crush in schools and libraries throughout the South East and will be appearing at literary festivals such as The Oxford Literary Festival in April.”

Eve has wanted to be an author from an early age sending her first book to a publisher at the age of seven.

She has never been afraid of tackling tough subjects facing teenagers in her books.

She said: “I’m influenced by issues that I think matter to young people.

“When I was a teen, I had friends that were in toxic relationships and then later, working in schools, I saw teenagers still getting into bad and controlling relationships.”

Crush is Eve’s third novel. Her first book, The Blog of Maisy Malone is a comedy aimed at adults telling the story of strong minded teen from a broken family.

She started her young adult fiction career with 7 Days tackling the issue of bullying.

Written from personal experience of being bullied at school, Eve looks at the issue from the perspective of both the bully and their victim.

It has been described by reviewers as ‘gripping and believable’ and dealing with the subject matter in sensitive, but frank way.

The praise was echoed by the experts as it has been shortlisted for several regional awards including The Amazing Book Awards in Sussex.

It was also nominated for the CILIP Carnegie which is one of the most prestigious prizes in children’s literature.

Eve said: “Although 7 Days was not longlisted it was great to have got that far.

“It was also lovely to be named as a top YA read in 2015 by The Telegraph online.”

Crush, published by Scholastic is available to buy in shops and online priced £6.99 for a paperback and £5.94 on Kindle.

For more information about Eve’s works go to her website go to www.eveainsworth.com