The Booksellers Association has today announced A Haunting in the Arctic by C.J. Cooke as Fiction Book of the Month, and Maisie vs Antarctica by Jack Jackman as Children’s Book of the Month for October. Picked by independent booksellers across the country, these books are responding to the season and will keep the reader company as the days start to get colder and darker.  
 
Independent bookshops around the UK and Ireland will be promoting A Haunting in the Arctic and Maisie vs Antarctica throughout October on social media and in-store. The Booksellers Association will be supporting the promotion of the Indie Books of the Month through social media and promotional material.
 
A Haunting in the Arctic follows the story of the Ormen ship where something has walked the floors of the Ormen for over a century. 1901. On board the Ormen, a whaling ship battling through the unforgiving North Sea, Nicky Duthie awakes. Attacked and dragged there against her will, it’s just her and the crew – and they’re all owed something only she can give them.
 
1973. Decades later, when the ship is found still drifting across the ocean, it’s deserted. Just one body is left on board, his face and feet mutilated, his cabin locked from the inside. Everyone else has vanished. Now, as urban explorer Dominique travels into the near-permanent darkness of the northernmost tip of Iceland, to the final resting place of the Ormen’s wreck, she’s determined to uncover the ship’s secrets. But she’s not alone. Something is here with her. And it’s seeking revenge…
A Haunting in the Arctic is published by HarperCollins (26^th September 2024) and is available to buy in bookshops now.
 
C.J. Cooke, author of A Haunting in the Arctic, commented: “Independent bookshops are the beating heart of publishing and a lifeline for authors and readers alike. The passion and expertise of indies is of tremendous importance, and with each book I feel a deeper gratitude to the dedicated booksellers who have helped create readerships for my work. I am absolutely thrilled that A Haunting in the Arctic is a Children’s Book of the Month.”
 
Maisie vs Antarctica follows the story of Maisie who thinks her dad is the most boring person in the world. For fun, he does origami (but only triangles) or jigsaw puzzles of a cloudless sky (yep, every piece is blue). It's not until they go on a trip to Antarctica together that Maisie realises there is something weird going on with her dad, as he somehow manages to crash-land a plane and even save her from a leopard seal! Is he a superhero, an alien or something else entirely?
 
Maisie is determined to find out who her dad really is, but she also ends up discovering a whole lot about herself and what it means to be a hero along the way. . . Maisie vs Antarctica is published by Nosy Crow on 29^th September and is available to buy in bookshops now.
 
Jack Jackman, author of Maisie vs Antarctica, commented: "For me, indie bookshops are like books themselves; each forming its own unique world, idiosyncratic, filled with fascinating characters. Some have stories behind them as romantic and dramatic as the ones on the shelves. In these worlds, books are portals, and the booksellers our travel agents."
 
Sian Wadey, bookseller at Booka and member of the selection panel, said: “Maisie vs Antarctica is a funny, entertaining story about an ordinary girl. I really liked the setting and the fact that all these unexpected things kept happening to Maisie and her dad. Also, Maisie is a really relatable character.”
 
The Indie Book of the Month titles are selected by panels of booksellers from publisher submissions. The Children’s panel for October comprised members from Booka Bookshop, The Rabbit Hole, Browser and Dartmouth. The Fiction panel were from Owl & Pyramid and Hewson Books.
 
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