Introducing Sara Barnard

Meet Sara Barnard, author of Beautiful Broken Things, a Zoella Book Club choice and one of this summer's hottest new books.

Hello! My name is Sara and I live, love and breathe YA.

I am also quite fond of music, Kinder Schoko-bons and my black and white cat. I once went husky-mushing in Finland with my best friend, which was terrifying for about 90% of the time and magical for the rest of it. Despite my best efforts, I'm at my most productive when I'm on trains (i.e., away from the internet). I studied creative writing at UEA in Norfolk, but I owe my love of reading and writing to the books that built my childhood.

Beautiful Broken Things is the novel I always wanted to write, which is why it is extra special to me.

It is a platonic love story about girls, friendship, emotional trauma and recovery. It's about how people can surprise you, and how you can surprise yourself. And it's also about how broken things are beautiful if you shine the right light on them.

Getting this book published is an absolute dream come true, and I am so excited to share it with the world, and especially all of you.

We went to visit Sara in Brighton, watch the video to find out what we got up to.

Beautiful Broken Things is a beautiful debut novel about what it means to be a friend when your whole world is falling apart.

Best friends Caddy and Rosie are inseparable. Their differences have brought them closer, but as she turns sixteen Caddy begins to wish she could be a bit more like Rosie - confident, funny and interesting. Then Suzanne comes into their lives: beautiful, damaged, exciting and mysterious, and things get a whole lot more complicated.

Start reading Beautiful Broken Things now