Secondary Schools

 “We need to live in a culture that values, respects, looks up to and idolizes women as much as men.” Emma Watson

Happy International Women’s Day! March the 8^th is a day for celebrating the many achievements of women across the globe. It is also a day to highlight issues that still need to be solved in order to accomplish equality. The #IWD2020 theme is #EachforEqual, calling for each of us to take control of our actions and be held accountable in a world where “we can actively choose to challenge stereotypes, fight bias, broaden perceptions, improve situations and celebrate women's achievements.”

2019 felt like a mixture of achievements and failures for women’s rights. Whilst Saudi Arabia granted women the right to drive without a male chaperone, Turkey announced the ‘marry-your-rapist’ law. In Finland women dominated the top political spots, including the youngest Prime Minister ever elected, yet the 2020 Sex and Power Index from the Fa

Climate conversations are never simple, with many people finding it hard to visualise a world of climate chaos or simply refusing to do so. That is why discussions through literature are so important – they bring the pandemonium to life and aid in envisaging a ravaged world, unlike anything we have seen before.

It feels like we are approaching the Golden Age of Young Adult ‘cli-fi’ (climate change fiction). Our worldwide news is constantly awash with ecological disasters and the beginning of 2020 has been no different with the devastating bush fires in Australia horrifying people all over the world. Although gaining popularity, very few ‘cli-fi’ novels actually deal directly with climate change but rather discuss the after-effects. Our No Planet B collection strives to raise awareness of the irreversible damage we are causing, a collection to shock but also to inspire – books that act as literary catalysts.

No Planet B contains various ecological dystopias,

You asked for more, so here you go! We are delighted to announce that six, brand new Papercuts books will be published in January 2020. Papercuts III builds on our award-winning Papercuts I and Papercuts II series of bone-chilling horror stories for students aged 13+. Once again, our talented authors and artists have created six eye-catching and engaging books that will be sure to grab, and hold, the attention of even the most reluctant teenage reader. Each story is packed with horror and elements of the supernatural and, for the first time ever, two of the titles are sci-fi horrors set in space!

Each book contains four full-page images interspersed throughout the text, helping readers to visualise the story, whilst retaining the appearance of a teenage novel. As with our other Papercuts titles, the books in Papercuts III have a reading age of 8–9 and a manageable word count of 5000­–6000. A dyslexia-friendly font and design is used, with bite-sized chunks of text and line

Badger publishing fans will be aware of our best-selling Two Sides series of thought-provoking stories on hard-hitting themes that are breaking new ground in accessible literature.  Emma Norry is the author of United, one of the books in the Two Sides II series, and she kindly agreed to an interview about this book and shares some tips on becoming a writer. Danny Pearson, our publisher, also gives us some insight into the commissioning process for this series and the reaction from readers.

How did you research and prepare for writing this novel?

My husband is a massive football fan, both playing and watching it. So… I watched games with him, tried FIFA and PES on the PlayStation and asked my son about playing at school. 

United is a story about Zane, a football-mad teenager coming to terms with his sexuality.  He has to cope with homophobic comments from his dad and coach — how do you think this affects his mental state?

Two Sides II – Out Now!

We are thrilled to announce that we are back with a brand-new series — Two Sides II.

Given the success of the first Two Sides series — published in September last year — we expect these six new books to be a real hit with students.

As in the first series, the texts consist of two first-person narratives with differing perspectives. One ‘bystander’ narrative, usually presenting a narrow or prejudiced view, alternates with the main character’s voice who reveals the broader reality of their difficult situation.

These books really do pack a punch and consider hard-hitting topics that affect many of today’s teenagers. Gender identity, racism, sexuality, anxiety, loneliness, domestic abuse and homelessness are all covered.

They are specifically written for struggling and reluctant readers aged 13+, with reading ages of 8–9.

Each book has a dedicated section at the back with easily-digestible information about the topics

Appearances can be deceiving. In a judgemental world, can your students see Two Sides?

We are very proud of the team we have here at Badger Learning, from the hardworking people who pack the boxes to the lovely ladies who create the collections in our Product Development Team. I caught up with Sarah, one of our Product Developers, to ask her about her role here at Badger…

 How did you become a book buyer?

I always knew I wanted to work within the book industry so I went to university and gained a degree in English Literature. During this time, I also worked in a library and became a student ambassador promoting higher education to children of all ages. When I finished university, I interned at three publishing houses (Random House, Penguin and Hachette) across many departments so I gained a good idea of how the publishing process worked. During my final internship, I was lucky enough to secure my current position at Badger Learning where I

"The story of women's struggle for equality belongs to no single feminist nor to any one organisation but to the collective efforts of all who care about human rights."
Gloria Steinem

I want to start this blog post by celebrating all that women have achieved over the past year. 2017 was a big year for activism and speaking out against sexism which has led to powerful movements fuelling change, such as #TimesUp and #MeToo. This has given many women the courage to speak out against sexual misconduct across various industries. 2017 also saw a big push in promoting women in STEM, more female politicians on the world's stage than ever before, as well as F1's banishment of grid girls.
Despite all of this progress, we are still a long way from accomplishing the original aim of IWD, which is to achieve gender equality. Current statistics show that the gender gap will not close until 2186, women are five times more likely to be sexually assaulted than a man, and