News & Events
Rock the Boat news – School events and a busy Midsummer!
10th July, 2025
June and July have been busy months at Rock the Boat HQ. We hosted a wonderful birthday party for the imprint, marking ten years of Oneworld publishing brilliant children’s and YA fiction that truly rocks the boat. It was a fabulous opportunity to finally bring together our lovely authors and illustrators, their agents, booksellers, librarians, and children’s reading champions – all in one place at the beautiful Phoenix Garden in Soho, London.
There was a major interview in The Bookseller with our editors Shadi Doostdar and Katie Jennings, which you can read here – with thanks to Caroline Carpenter.
And, amid the heatwaves, end of term busyness, and continuing to write fantastic stories, our authors have been beavering away doing events around the country – some having travelled across the world to do so!
Highlights include these recent school visits, literary festivals and awards ceremonies:
Sandie (S.A.) Reyhani visits the UK from Greece for A Sequence of Cosmic Accidents
Sandie visited schools in St Neots (Cambridgeshire), West London, Brentwood (Essex), and Bath, and plans to come back to the UK for another school visit in October. If you’re interested in booking Sandie for an event, please contact publicity@oneworld-publications.com.
Sandie’s themes include: mythological monsters from around the world, wormholes and intergalactic science, world-building, writing strong female characters and Victorian-era slang! She can also discuss positive disability representation, particularly for children with an upper limb difference. You can read more on her website here.
‘Sandie’s school presentations are informative and fun. She involves the children with questions and interactive aspects where volunteers are required and this is a brilliant quality to have, involve the children not preach at them! Her passion for her book is clear and she would be an excellent choice for school visits.’ Waterstones St Neots
‘Sandie was really impressive today. Friendly and personable and really engaging for the children. The children were captivated with her presentation and many children said they wanted to buy her book. They also loved the bookmarks she gave out. We would love to have her back in the future.’ St Stephen’s Primary School, Bath
‘The students were enthralled by the mythology and the magic, and of course the dragons and monsters! A big buzz! A real success! …You are welcome back any time.’ Ealing Fields High School
‘Sandie’s book is, quite simply, exceptional storytelling. Her school presentation engages the pupils, with talk of mythical creatures and wormholes. We had an amazing day!’ Chicken & Frog Bookshop, Essex
Nat Amoore visits the UK from Australia for all three of her books: Secrets of a Schoolyard Millionaire, Secrets of an Undercover Activist and Secrets of a Rebel Rockstar
We were so thrilled to finally be able to meet Nat in person, having published three of her rip-roaringly entertaining Middle Grade titles. She brings such energy to her events, lots of stories, humour, and plenty of inspiration for young writers. She was one of the speakers at this year’s Barnes Children’s Literature Festival, and visited two schools, Chestnuts Primary School, North London and the NEST site at Newhaven School, Greenwich.
‘We ♥️ Nat at Barnes and we can’t wait until her next visit to the UK!’ Amanda J. Brettargh, Director, Barnes Children’s Literature Festival
‘I just want to write to say how much we enjoyed and appreciated our visit from Nat last week. The students fed back that they hadn’t expected an author to be so funny. It may only have been 50 minutes in their lives but Nat’s visit has left a lasting impression and plenty of food for thought. The students’ eyes have been opened and their horizons widened. And of course, we are delighted at Nat’s emphasis on the importance of reading, woven subtly into the session. We will always have a space in our library for Nat.’ Newhaven School, Greenwich
‘We had the pleasure of welcoming Nat, who ran small group workshops with students of various ages and needs. All I can say is—wow! She was incredibly engaging, had everyone laughing, and completely captivated the students with her inspiring life experiences. Hearing how her journey of collecting stories led to becoming an author was truly powerful. It was an enjoyable and enriching experience for all age groups (yes, even the teachers!)’ NEST Site, Newhaven School, Greenwich
Gabrielle Shewhorak travels around the UK for the third Rani Reports
Husband-and-wife team Gabrielle and Satish Shewhorak bring us the final instalment in their delightful series where young reporter Raniand her mischievous Nani solve mysteries, teaching us about journalism and how to tell the truth and fake news apart along the way. Rani Reports on the Tropical Island Treasure transports us to Mauritius, and Gabrielle’s school events have been introducing children aged seven to nine to Mauritian culture and geography, Creole language and family recipes, as well as pirate history, ciphers and codes, natural history and colonialism.
Gabrielle has been on the Great North Tour once again, along with visiting schools in the North-East, London and Surrey. The Islington Tribune wrote this lovely piece about her assembly visit at Rotherfield Primary School, London.
‘Gabrielle spoke about her inspirations and how she plans and structures her stories. She also spoke of the long and arduous editing process before a book gets on the shelves. It was so generous of her to give her time to the pupils of Rotherfield.’ Rotherfield Primary School, London
‘I just wanted to say another big thank you for your time yesterday. The children loved your session and were so engaged throughout – I think you will have inspired some future authors!’ Sandfield Primary School, Guildford
Ruta Sepetys visits the UK as a visiting fellow at the University of Oxford!
The Bletchley Riddle, by Ruta Sepetys and Steve Sheinkin, has been an incredibly popular Middle Grade title since its publication last October – perfect for children aged nine to twelve who love solving clues and WWII history.
Ruta was awarded a 2025 Bodleian Visiting Fellowship at the University of Oxford to support her research for future historical fiction titles. During her fellowship, Ruta and Steve hosted two large, multi-school online events. Seven Stories Newcastle had 14 schools join with some home-educators watching the event too. Havering Libraries (East London) had 27 classes watching (approx. 800 children).
Last week, Ruta also attended the Historical Association’s Young Quills Award Ceremony, for which The Bletchley Riddle was Highly Commended in the 11–13 age category. Congratulations, Ruta and Steve! One of our favourite reviews of recent times is one that was read out at the ceremony:
‘This book is one of the best books I have ever read in my life, and I would definitely buy it.’ Chris in Year 7
‘Ruta and Steve were absolutely fantastic!’ Seven Stories
‘Our Year 5/6 children were treated to a live Zoom author event with award-winning global authors Ruta Sepetys and Steve Sheinkin yesterday and their new book The Bletchley Riddle about a brother and sister who find themselves at Bletchley Park in WW2. It’s a brilliant read, fast paced with mystery, spies, and of course, code breaking. We learnt about the Official Secrets Act, Enigma machines, the extensive and interesting research behind the book and what motivated our authors to write it. It was a fascinating hour, thank you to the authors for spending time with us, the books are in all of our libraries.’ Havering Libraries
Look out for some more really exciting events happening soon for titles including Jack Mackay’s GLOAM!
