Brand New Malorie Blackman Book on the Way

Fans of Malorie Blackman’s Noughts and Crosses series listen up! Blackman is publishing a new book in this brilliant series. The first four Noughts and Crosses books are a brilliant way for young people to learn and think about race and class through the window of literature. And, of course, the fifth book in the series is set to be no different.

Crossfire, which will be published next summer, is set several years after Double Cross which was published in 2008. The book will follow some of the same characters including Sephy, and Sephy and Callum’s now-adult daughter, Callie Rose. Alongside the characters you will remember from before, we will also meet some new teenage protagonists. Blackman told The Bookseller that her inspiration to continue the series came from Brexit, Trump, and the rise of the far-right in Europe.

She also explained, “The previous books in the Noughts and Crosses series were written in reply to contemporary events. Crossfire is no different. I want to write a book that turned the spotlight on not just elections and politics but the pursuit of power. At the heart of Crossfire, however, are the relationships between Tobey and Callie-Rose as teens and adults, as well as the relationship between two new characters, Libby and Troy, who represent the third generation of protagonist within the Noughts and Crosses series. I’m thrilled to be revisiting the Noughts and Crosses world again.”

Her publisher, Ruth Knowles, added, “It is a story like no other for these tumultuous times, and it will undoubtedly continue to be read alongside similarly revolutionary fiction such as The Handmaid’s Tale and The Power for many generations to come.”

And, if that news isn’t exciting enough, there is also a BBC adaptation of Noughts and Crosses due to be screened in 2019!

If you can’t wait till then, why not re-read the series. Or, if you haven’t read the series, get ready for the new book and TV adaptation by picking up a new series.

This story originally appeared on the Booksbird blog and is reproduced with permission.