Rebecca Rouillard

News! I am publishing a MG fantasy adventure on 26 March: ‘Wings of the Wyld’. When Ren’s sister is kidnapped from their floating island home, she must tame a reluctant wyvern to fly to the rescue. A captivating story about friendship & bravery. DM if you'd like a digital ARC.

WATCH THIS SPACE! 👀 We're so excited about sharing our brilliant shortlists with you on Friday! Which books are you hoping to see? #SparkBookAward2026

We had such an amazing range of submissions this year…it was a privilege to read them all. I’m so excited about our final longlist though, and I can’t wait to share them with my students…

(How on earth will we choose just four for the shortlist?)

Day 4, 11+ Fiction: 'Phoenix Brothers' by Sita Brahmachari. Two boys trying to settle into a new life - a story of friendship, shared history and challenging choices. @oxfordeducation.bsky.social #Spark12BooksOfChristmas 🎄🎁 📚

Day 1: Our first book in the 11+ Fiction category is 'I Dare You' by Tamsin Winter - Willow and Alma will do anything to go viral, but as their TikTok likes soar, their dares become increasingly dangerous. (Usborne) 🎄🎁📚 #Spark12BooksofChristmas

It's the 1st of December and that means it's time for the Spark! 12 Books of Christmas - we will be announcing our longlists over the next 12 working days, starting today... 🎄🎁📚 #Spark12BooksOfChristmas

Our 11+ Panel members are excited by the fantastic range of books we've been sent this year for the teen category - longlisting is going to be a difficult job! @rebeccarouillard.bsky.social

‘The Scream of the Whistle’ by Emily Randall-Jones When 12-year-old Ruby’s parents split up, she moves into her Grandma’s house in a creepy abandoned railway village called Melbridge with her mum and brother. Ruby is sure if she can jus…

Book review: 'The Scream of the Whistle' by Emily Randall-Jones - a spooky one for autumn! 🎃🚂👻 @chickenhousebooks.bsky.social

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Happy Caturday from Majestic Merlin & Maeby the Menace…

Just finished this wonderfully warm, inclusive and captivating story of friendship and reconciliation, exploring historical events not often covered in British children’s fiction - highly recommended! @janeenhayat.bsky.social @guppybooks.bsky.social

Today we welcomed our new Year 7 pupils to school for Transition Day and transported the library to the Catacombs of Paris to introduce our Summer Reading Challenge... @piudg.bsky.social @nosycrow.bsky.social @thekingstonacademy.org

TKA Library played host to the @sparkbookaward.bsky.social Final Award Ceremony yesterday, which was broadcast live on YouTube to 170 schools. Some of our pupils attended as the live studio audience and supplied some excellent drum rolls and applause! @thekingstonacademy.org

It is such a huge privilege to chair the shortlisting panel for the teen category of the @sparkbookaward.bsky.social. I loved all of the books in our shortlist but so pleased that the pupils voted for Nate Lessore & his important message of kindness & combating toxic masculinity. 🙌👏🏆

The Spark team are still recovering from the excitement of yesterday...here are some behind-the-scenes shots of our ceremony. (Yes, we ate the cupcakes as soon as the ceremony was finished!)

Here they are in all their glory! Congratulations to all the 2025 Spark! Book Award Winners and a huge thank you to all the children and young people who read the books, entered the competitions, came to the author visits and voted for our winners! ✨📚🏆

Year 7 & 8 enjoyed a brilliant author visit from @ravenaguron.bsky.social on Monday. She spoke about her journey to becoming a writer via law school, her obsession with Agatha Christie, and she gave us some practical insight into the publishing industry. Thanks for a fascinating talk!

‘Tidemagic: Ista Flit and the Impossible Key’ by Clare Harlow ‘Ista Flit and the Impossible Key’ is the sequel to ‘The Many Faces of Ista Flit’. In the first book Ista used her tide-blessing, the ability to adopt other people’s appearances and gifts, to save …

Book Review: Tidemagic: Ista Flit and the Impossible Key by @clareharlow.bsky.social Just as uncanny, atmospheric & captivating as the first one. Bravo! 🙌

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And ‘Shongololo’ - a familiar sight to any South Africans out there!

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Thanks to @northernjim.bsky.social at The Dirigible Balloon for publishing two of my children’s poems:
‘My Velociraptor Thinks She’s a Cat’… 🎈

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‘Circle of Liars’ by Kate Francis Seven teenagers are trapped in an isolated motel, with no WiFi and no transport, by an anonymous vigilante. A year ago three students at their school died in a tragic fire and their captor knows th…

Book Review: ‘Circle of Liars’ by Kate Francis. And Then There Were None meets Five Survive…I really enjoyed this pacy thriller!

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You've read the books. You've spoken to the authors. You've responded with incredible artwork, creative writing & multimedia projects. Now it's time to vote for the winners of the Spark! School Book Awards 2025! Find voting details on your latest email, deadline - 20 June.📚🏆✨

Fern Hill Book of the Week: 'Why Did My Brain Make Me Say It?' by @bardymum.bsky.social. Brains are weird! But this poetry collection also demonstrates that brains are amazing in the way they can experiment with language. A playful, profound and authentic collection of poems - perfect for primary!

Merlin proves even less cooperative on camera than Magnus…😂

Happy Pride Month! Here are just a few of the fantastic LGBTQ+ books available in our library… 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️🌈 @thekingstonacademy.org

Competitive bunch… 😂

It was so lovely to meet @clairelinney.bsky.social today, thanks for a brilliant talk!

‘I Dare You’ by Tamsin Winter Willow & Alma are thirteen-year-old best friends and joint owners of the ‘Wilma’ TikTok account where they video each other doing dares and challenges in the hopes of going viral an…

Book review: 'I Dare You' by @tamsinwinterauthor.bsky.social. A thought-provoking and frighteningly plausible read from the Queen of teen fiction.

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The final @sparkbookaward.bsky.social event took place last week with Ashley Hickson-Lovence, author of the powerful verse novel 'Wild East'. Ashley spoke about how the book was based on his own experience & how we can use our lives to inspire our writing. Thank you for a fantastic event, Ashley!

‘A Forgery of Fate’ by Elizabeth Lim I absolutely loved ‘Six Crimson Cranes’ and the ‘Spin the Dawn’ duology so I was looking forward to another one of Elizabeth Lim’s Far Eastern-inspired fairytale retel…

Book Review: 'A Forgery of Fate' by Elizabeth Lim @hodderscape.bsky.social A charming, lyrical and romantic story, filled with strange creatures, vibrant landscapes and captivating characters...
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‘Mission: Manta Ray’ by Philip Kavvadias In Finn & Milo’s second adventure, they find themselves skydiving on to a ship in the middle of the Pacific Ocean (along with Arti the microraptor) for a special mission to investigate st…

Book Review: 'Mission: Manta Ray' by Philip Kavvadias
@chickenhousebooks.bsky.social Another non-stop, madcap adventure featuring intrepid children, thrilling action, wildly imaginative technology, and witty banter...
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