Rashmi Sirdeshpande Books

Rashmi Sirdeshpande is a lawyer-turned-storyteller, who was part of the Penguin Random House Write Now mentoring programme in 2018. As a British Indian child, she didn't get to see many children like her in the books she read, so she is now passionate about writing stories that children from these backgrounds can relate to.

Commenting on what inspired her to write Good News, Rashmi Sirdeshpande said: “I grew up loving comics, picture books, puzzle books and fact books. Anything that sparked that WOW feeling inside me. Anything that carried me away! Because books are the cheapest ticket to absolutely everywhere - real and fantastical. And I love that today especially, there really is something for everyone out there. I wrote Good News to give young readers the facts about the biggest challenges we face on this planet but also the facts about how far we've come already, how much amazing work is being done, and how we have so many reasons to be hopeful about the future. Good News is the hardest, truest, most important thing I've ever written and to see it shortlisted for this incredible award means everything to me. Everything.”

Photo credit Charlotte Knee