Amara Sage’s debut novel, Influential, published today (Thursday 5th January) from Faber.
A heart-felt, whip-smart deep dive into what it would really be like to be internet famous at 17, Influential is a YA tale about Almond Brown, who has 3.5 million followers online, but no friends in real life.
A cautionary tale for our time from a writer who has grown up with social media, Influential has already begun to receive high praise. Featured in the recent January 2023 previews, The Bookseller described Influential as “A deft and sobering novel about growing up with the internet, written with great skill by début author Sage.”
The Guardian has also included Influential in their “2023 in Books: Highlights for the Year Ahead” article, as one of only five Children & Teen titles recommended amongst their picks for best fiction and non-fiction to look forward to in 2023, which includes authors from Zadie Smith to Margaret Atwood. Influential was listed in January’s recommendations, as a “YA debut about social media, internet fame and cancel culture, with a heroine whose parents have put her whole life online.”
Alongside the publication of Influential, Amara has also written an article for Grazia on “Why I (Probably) Won’t Be Sharing Pictures of My Child Online”, exploring the realm of “family vloggers”. You can read Amara’s full article for Grazia online here.
For the full Bookseller article click here.
For the full Guardian article click here.
