Atom to publish second YA novel by David Owen

DKW are thrilled to announce that Sarah Castleton has acquired a second YA novel by David Owen,The Fallen Children, which Atom will publish in April 2017. The deal for UK/Commonwealth rights (excluding Canada) was negotiated by Ella Kahn at Diamond Kahn & Woods Literary Agency.

David achieved a first class honours in BA Creative Writing and an MA Writing for Children at the University of Winchester, where he went on to teach on the BA Creative Writing course for three years. He is the Content and Social Media specialist for gapyear.com, and also an awards-shortlisted games journalist, with a particular interest in the applications for video games outside of entertainment, and he has written about games being used to treat depression, dyslexia and autism. David has been published as a poet in journals including Agenda and Seam, and Atom published his first novel, Panther, last year to huge acclaim.

Inspired by John Wyndham’s classic The Midwich Cuckoos, and in the vein of Louise O’Neill’s Only Ever Yours or Andrew Smith’s Grasshopper Jungle, The Fallen Children tells a story of how young people have their futures snatched away by circumstances beyond their control, how modern society views their ambition with innate distrust, and how sometimes they must fight to defy what is expected of them.

‘David is one of the best new UKYA authors to emerge in recent years. His writing is honest, sometimes painfully so, and is characterised by a twisted humour that is both unsettling and delicious. His new book The Fallen Children is dark, provocative and chillingly timely – and I am very proud and delighted to be publishing him again.’ – Sarah Castleton, Commissioning Editor, Atom

‘I couldn’t be happier that my second book is being published by Atom. The Fallen Children is an even more ambitious project than my first book, as well as being much darker and weirder, and I know that Atom, one of the most fearless UKYA publishers, is the perfect home for it.’ – David Owen, Author

‘David’s debut Panther launched him as one of the most powerful new UKYA voices, and I am thrilled that Atom will be building on its success with his second book, The Fallen Children. It’s a brilliantly ambitious concept, both action-packed and deeply moving, and I can’t wait for readers to discover it.’ – Ella Kahn, Diamond Kahn & Woods Literary Agency