Not Going To Plan
Age 14 +
28 August 2025Imprint: Hot Key Books
Synopsis
A powerful verse novel about sexual consent, unplanned pregnancy and the breaking of taboos.
Marnie's really messed up this time - expelled and forced to change schools, the only empty seat in Marnie's new school is next to Zed, a nerd with zero tolerance for mistakes. Marnie (skilled at art and Spanish, struggles with numbers) can't wait to lose her virginity. Zed (brilliant at maths and physics, loathes languages) is a loner who can't stand being touched. They couldn't be less alike, but they both need good grades in the subjects they hate.
What starts as a trade in tuition turns into an unlikely friendship - and after Marnie has sex with a boy who lies about using a condom, she needs Zed's help to make the hardest decision of her life.
Marnie's really messed up this time - expelled and forced to change schools, the only empty seat in Marnie's new school is next to Zed, a nerd with zero tolerance for mistakes. Marnie (skilled at art and Spanish, struggles with numbers) can't wait to lose her virginity. Zed (brilliant at maths and physics, loathes languages) is a loner who can't stand being touched. They couldn't be less alike, but they both need good grades in the subjects they hate.
What starts as a trade in tuition turns into an unlikely friendship - and after Marnie has sex with a boy who lies about using a condom, she needs Zed's help to make the hardest decision of her life.
Details
28 August 2025400 pages
9781471418372Imprint: Hot Key Books
Reviews
NOT GOING TO PLAN is a truly hilarious, moving and beautiful novel that captures teenagehood, its pressures and its complexities so perfectly; it's such a vital story that I hope will spark much needed and long overdue conversations about agency, consent and our right to choose, and I absolutely adore Marnie and Zed; they will stay with me for a very long time.Margaret McDonald, author of Glasgow Boys
