Not Going To Plan
Age 14 +
04 September 2025Imprint: Hot Key Books
Synopsis
An intensely topical verse novel about a woman's right to choose from Yoto Carnegie Shadow Award winning author Tia Fisher.
Marnie has just been excluded from her posh private school, which is how she ends up at the local state school and sitting next to Zed, the loner in the class. But Marnie (good at most things, especially Art but definitely not Physics) and Zed (good at most things, especially Maths but definitely not Spanish) soon find they can help each other out - and become good friends.
Then Marnie finds out she is pregnant. How could she be? They were using a condom... But Marnie comes to the horrible realisation that the boy she was with (not Zed) wasn't telling the truth. Marnie now has the most terrible and unfair decision to make. And to do that she will need the help of her friends and family - if she can bear to tell them.
A powerful story, accessibly told, about sexual assault, unplanned pregnancy and one young woman's response to this life-changing event.
Marnie has just been excluded from her posh private school, which is how she ends up at the local state school and sitting next to Zed, the loner in the class. But Marnie (good at most things, especially Art but definitely not Physics) and Zed (good at most things, especially Maths but definitely not Spanish) soon find they can help each other out - and become good friends.
Then Marnie finds out she is pregnant. How could she be? They were using a condom... But Marnie comes to the horrible realisation that the boy she was with (not Zed) wasn't telling the truth. Marnie now has the most terrible and unfair decision to make. And to do that she will need the help of her friends and family - if she can bear to tell them.
A powerful story, accessibly told, about sexual assault, unplanned pregnancy and one young woman's response to this life-changing event.
Details
04 September 2025352 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
