ZUNTOLD PUBLISHING LAUNCHES YA NOVEL SHEDDING LIGHT ON MALE EATING DISORDERS

Young adult novel The Year I Didn’t Eat by Samuel Pollen will be launched by ZunTold Publishing in March 2019, as part of their new Fiction as Therapy arm, and coinciding with charity Beat’s Eating Disorders Awareness Week.
Drawing from author Pollen’s own personal experience of anorexia, The Year I Didn’t Eat brings to market a brand-new voice in the YA fiction world. Ideal for fans of John Green, Holly Bourne and James Dashner, this is Pollen’s debut title.
Focussing on 14-year-old protagonist Max, the novel is an uplifting story showing the highs and lows of life with an eating disorder, and the effect on family and friends as well as the individual.
Published by the new Manchester-based publishing house ZunTold, The Year I Didn’t Eat will be the first novel in the publisher’s new Fiction as Therapy division. Working closely with mental health professionals, Fiction as Therapy will be publishing a tranche of new titles with therapeutic value, with an aim of supporting young people and their mental health. The Fiction as Therapy offering will also be supported with guided reading resources for educators and mental health professionals.
Founder and MD Elaine Bousfield has a strong background in mental health and counselling, successfully running and selling XenZone Ltd in 2017.
She said: “I’m absolutely delighted to be publishing The Year I Didn’t Eat this spring. Sam is a brilliant writer and is really bringing something new and vital to the YA market.
“Men’s and boy’s mental health has been hitting the headlines over the past year, so it’s so important to address these issues and help young people to talk about their problems. Our Fiction as Therapy series will hopefully help do just that, and support young people with their own voyage of discovery.”
The Year I Didn’t Eat is available from 1st March 2019, £7.99, 9781999863357.