Dead Ends: An electrifying novel in verse by award-winning author and poet

Ashley Hickson-Lovence

Feb 2027 · Random House

Ebook

320

Pages

Eligible

This book will become available on February 4, 2027. You will not be charged until it is released.

About this ebook

An electrifying new YA verse-novel by multi-award-winning and Carnegie nominated author and poet Ashley Hickson-Lovence. Perfect for fans of Jason Reynolds, Dean Atta and Manjeet Mann.

'Gritty, engrossing and deeply relatable' Nathanael Lessore

There are stories within these storeys . . .

Something is going down at Singer Court.

Something big.

It’s Saturday morning and fourteen-year-old Toby 'Mastermind' McKenzie and his younger brother Dré are forced to evacuate their high-rise tower block by armed officers.

Set over the course of a single day, this is the nail-bitingly thrilling and poetic tale of a bright young Black boy using the power of courage, friendship and unity to save his community.

Ashley Hickson-Lovence's debut YA verse-novel Wild East won the YA Diverse Book Award 2025, the Two Cities Book Award 2024, the Mal Peet Children’s Award 2024 and the East Anglian Book of the Year 2024. It was nominated for the Carnegie Medal for Writing 2025 and shortlisted and longlisted for multiple more prizes.

Praise for Wild East:

‘A book meant to be heard . . . It's the fresh, spoken word style that makes Ronny's story’ The Times

‘Heartfelt and up-to-the-minute . . . A reminder that even short lines can take you a long way’ The Sunday Times

‘A powerful story of resilience, friendship, discovery and growth’ Jeffrey Boakye, author of Kofi and the Rap Battle Summer

‘I loved Ronny's kindness, vulnerability, empathy, tenacity and open-heartedness’ Patrice Lawrence, author of Orangeboy

‘Raw, moving, and so accessible. A powerful spoken-word style verse novel’ Rashmi Sirdeshpande, author of How To Be Extraordinary

‘Welcomes all types of readers . . . Hickson-Lovence has crafted a superb piece’ DD Armstrong, author of Ugly Dogs Don't Cry

‘This empowering verse novel announces the arrival of an exciting new talent in YA fiction’ Waterstones.com

An electrifying new YA verse-novel by multi-award-winning and Carnegie nominated author and poet Ashley Hickson-Lovence. Perfect for fans of Jason Reynolds, Dean Atta and Manjeet Mann. 'Gritty, engrossing and deeply relatable' Nathanael Lessore There are stories within these storeys . . . Somethi...

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About the author

Ashley Hickson-Lovence is a novelist, poet, literary critic, and Lecturer of Creative Writing. Wild East was his first multi-award-winning YA verse-novel, and was partly inspired by his time as a secondary school English teacher, his own move from London to Norwich, tutoring a group of asylum seekers at an Arvon retreat, and his love of British hip hop. Ashley has also written three adult novels: The 392, Your Show, which was longlisted for the Gordon Burn Prize and shortlisted for the East Anglian Book Awards, and About To Fall Apart. His poetry collection Why I Am Not a Bus Driver has been shortlisted for the Jhalak Poetry Prize and includes the poem 'Munster Road', highly commended for Best Single Poem at the Forward Prize. He holds a PhD in Creative and Critical Writing from the University of East Anglia and was nominated for the Black Excellence Award for Outstanding Contribution to Literature in 2023. His second YA verse-novel, Dead Ends, will publish in 2027.

Ashley Hickson-Lovence is a novelist, poet, literary critic, and Lecturer of Creative Writing. Wild East was his first multi-award-winning YA verse-novel, and was partly inspired by his time as a secondary school English teacher, his own move from London to Norwich, tutoring a group of asylum see...

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