By Sarah Lippett, Ziggy Hanaor (author)
"Teens will love this gripping YA graphic novel, the artwork is superb, and it genuinely makes you feel you are inside a teenage brain."
Hardback Temporarily Out Of Stock £18.99 £17.09
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September 2025 Book of the Month
This is a beautiful YA graphic novel that hits hard, it’s one that will stay in your brain long after you’ve put it down. Nel, immersed in music, is trying to focus on GCSE’s but is preoccupied with her twin brother Ludo. He’s aggressive, a bully and clearly her mother’s favourite, at least in Nel’s eyes. She feels like she’s watching her life unfold without her.
Nel, in short, feels like she’s spinning her wheels whereas Ludo appears to coast through everything without a care. The only that seems to be reliable in Nel’s life is her music and her best friend, Kit.
Then Ludo joins a band, and Kit starts to date the guitarist, Nel feels her friendships shifting from beneath her. But when Ludo drops out and Nel takes up his spot, she starts to realise her place in the world.
I love how this graphic novel is structured, it’s a very genuine teenage experience. We have deep moments of focus that are shattered by social media, mental pressures and thoughts that come and go like leaves in the wind. Nel’s narrative reflects perfectly the uneven rhythm of figuring out who you are.
It’s an essential graphic novel to have in schools in my opinion. It tackles identity, friendships and independence. It’s fast-paced, packed full of teen frustration, you can feel it dripping off of each page.
The artwork is superb, and genuinely makes you feel you are inside a teenage brain. Little biographies of Nel’s favourite artists and different online material “pops” up on the page, these area not distracting and in fact make the story more engaging. Whether teens are into music or not, they will absolutely love this gripping YA graphic novel. I cannot recommend it enough, it’s brilliant.
A beautiful graphic novel about the complexities of teenage life, the tangles of twinship and the power of music to somehow make sense of it all.
Read the full description
Sometimes everything feels heavy and uncomfortable. My body, my family, my life… And the only thing that releases that weight is music…
Nel is 15 years old and life is a grind. GCSEs are exhausting, social pressures are relentless and parents and teachers are oblivious. Somehow Ludo, Nel's handsome twin brother, seems untouched by it all, gliding effortlessly through life's complications with a confidence and arrogance that only illuminates Nel's insecurities. Her best friend, Kit and her playlist are pretty much the only things she's got going for her right now.
When Ludo joins a band and Kit starts going out with the guitarist, it feels like even the tiny space Nel has carved out for herself is in peril.
But nothing is forever, and teenage life can turn on a dime. When Nel finds herself taking Ludo's place in the band, she has to work out whether life outside the shadows is all it's cracked up to be. Sometimes you need to follow the music to find your way back to yourself.
Sarah Lippett is an Edinburgh-based illustrator and author. Her first graphic novel, Stan and Nan (Jonathan Cape, 2016) won the Quentin Blake Prize and her second, A Puff of Smoke (Jonathan Cape, 2019) was a Guardian graphic novel of the year. Sarah is one half of Onion Press and lectures in illustration at the University of Edinburgh. Ziggy Hanaor is a writer and publisher living in London. She is author of the V&A award-winning Alte Zachen (2022) and the Carnegie-nominated The Egg Incident (2023), as well as picturebooks including Alex and Alex (2021) and The Pocket Chaotic (2020).
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A beautiful graphic novel about the complexities of teenage life, the tangles of twinship and the power of music to somehow make sense of it all.Sometimes everything feels heavy and uncomfortable. My body, my family, my life… And the only thing that releases that weight is music… Nel is 15 years old and life is a grind.
The LoveReading4Kids Editorial Team have read and reviewed Everything Amplified and determined it is suitable for children aged 13-18 years old
Everything Amplified features in the following genres: Featured Books for 13+ readers, Featured Books for Young Adults, Books of the Month, Recommendations, Star Books, Stories about Family and Friends, School Stories, Music, Graphic Novels & Comics, Children’s / Teenage general interest: Cartoons and comic strips, Children's and Young Adult Fiction, Children’s, Teenage and Educational, Children’s / Teenage: General interest, Children’s / Teenage general interest: Humour and jokes
Hardback. £17.09, down from the £18.99 cover price. Temporarily Out Of Stock.
Everything Amplified was written by Sarah Lippett, Ziggy Hanaor and published by Cicada Books an imprint of Cicada
Everything Amplified has 300 pages
£17.09, reduced from £18.99. Temporarily Out Of Stock.
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