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Some of the best, most exciting and most challenging young adult novels of today are set in the real world. Hear three top authors Patrice Lawrence, Clare Furniss and Juno Dawson discuss with writer and journalist Anna James their new books and how they reflect the world we live in.

Lawrence was born in Brighton and brought up in an Italian-Trinidadian household in Mid Sussex. She has been writing for as long as she has been reading. Her first novel, Orangeboy, has been shortlisted for the Costa Book Award, nominated for the Carnegie Award and shortlisted for the Leeds and North East Book Awards.

Dawson is the multi-award-winning author of dark teen thrillers Hollow Pike, Cruel Summer, Say Her Name and Under My Skin, written under the name James Dawson. In 2015, she released her first contemporary romance, All Of The Above. Her first non-fiction book, Being A Boy, tackled puberty, sex and relationships in a frank and funny fashion, and a follow-up for young LGBT people, This Book Is Gay, came out in 2014.

Furniss worked for several years in political media relations. She recently completed an MA in writing for young people at Bath Spa University. Her funny, sharply observed novels How Not to Disappear and The Year of the Rat have won many fans.

Age 13-adult