Many girls in Hazel’s school are hearing from an anonymous person online who is harassing them. Plaguing them with knowledge of all their tiny little insecurities and the dreams they have. Hazel thinks she knows who is responsible, but no one is willing to come forwards. She knows that she must fight for what is just and for what is right.

I was extremely lucky to have the opportunity to read Hazel Hill is Gonna Win This One early and wow was I not disappointed. With Hazel Hill, Maggie Horne has written a powerfully feminist story that deserves to be told throughout schools everywhere. The messaging in Hazel Hill tells some of the most important points that I think readers deserve and must hear in order to prevent this sort of thing from happening again. Assault and harassment are horrific events that do happen and do need to be spoken about in order to enable people everywhere to know that they have the power to change what is happening.

Hazel herself is fierce and likeable – a truly heroic main character who isn’t afraid to stand up for herself. She is outraged about what is going on and she won’t let herself be silenced, no matter what the consequences are. I love the development of her character across the novel from a girl who is stubbornly pleased to be alone to one who does want and in facts finds joy from having friendships with Ella and Riley. I particularly enjoy that Maggie Horne does not shy away from villainising Tyler completely – recent incidences of sexual harassment in the media perpetuates victim blaming and shaming and this book certainly does not do any of that, thank goodness!

This is a very special story and one that absolutely deserves to be told. 5 out of 5 stars.

I laughed, I cried but more importantly I came away in love with Hazel Hill. We all know that growing up is hard and painful but we will never be able to fully understand what someone is going through unless we are in their shoes. I felt like I was alongside Hazel throughout the oages it was so engaging. A great read.

Such a wonderful and empowering book showing the sad but very real reality of growing up.
As someone who has been in Ella Quinn’s position, life can feel pretty hopeless.

I definitely shed a few tears and would highly encourage anyone to read this.

I’m his book belongs on all school libraries and youngsters bookshelves.

Take a bow Maggie, you bloody smashed this one out the park

Hazel Hill keeps her head down and her eyes on the ball. This year’s goal? Win this year’s speech contest, and nothing can bring her down, not even last year’s mistake where she accidentally mispronounced hyperbole. And not even Tyler Harris, who made it his life’s mission to talk Hazel’s ear off about every crush he’s ever had, can distract her. Until he says, Ella Quinn has a crush on her. And suddenly, she’s all that she can focus on, and Hazel discovers that the girls in her school are being harassed, and she finds herself amid a plan to take the harasser down.

This was a surprisingly fun read. I never thought to pick up Middle-Grade books nowadays. Still, after being enticed by the adorable cover, I did not expect to find myself reading a powerful story about three girls standing up against sexual harassment. There is so much to say about this story that it is hard to put my thoughts into words. After reading this, I felt a sense of happiness, knowing that a book like this will be going into the hands of young kids. When the New York Magazine can publish an article defending a seventeen-year-old boy who was ostracised for showing nudes of his girlfriend at a party as a childish mistake, stories like Hazel Hill will be crucial for the younger audience. Inspired by the author’s own experience as a child, she has perfectly captured the spirit of a young girl navigating school life alone who suddenly finds herself defenceless when her classmate Tyler Harris is revealed to be terrorising most of the girls in the school. All the adults she was told to trust brush off his remarks and begin to pin the blame on the girls for acting in such a way. Hazel Hill discusses sexual harassment in a way that I can see be a great tool for younger audiences to understand the topic without going into too much detail.

Hazel Hill is Gonna Win This One is a story of empowerment and standing proud. An incredible tale with great bouts of humour that was a pleasure to read. Tackling an experience most girls will sadly face in their lives, this book will, in no doubt, foster discussion in a healthy way.

Hazel is a relatively quiet studious girl who becomes friends with a couple of girls in her year and finds out one is being anonymously harassed online by a boy in their year. The teachers won't listen to them so they need to take action themselves. It was a good read that highlights the importance of female friendship.

the easiest five stars i have ever given and the easiest recommendation i will ever give.

this is a book for young girls. for girls to feel empowered, for girls to feel understood, for girls to be believed, for girls to feel safe. it is also a book for women. for women who as girls were not believed, for girls who were, and for girls that were silenced.

<i> hazel hill is gonna win this one </i> focuses on three 12-year-olds - hazel, ella and riley as they team up to take down a fellow student who is a sexual harasser; the golden boy of the school. it is not easy, as opening up about sexual harassment as a girl or woman is not. but these three girls, who have not even reached teenage-hood yet, do not give up on fighting the good fight. they believe each other, they believe the other girls around them, and they fight like hell.

as a girl who was too afraid to say anything to cat callers and to boys in corridors at school who thought they could say and touch whatever they liked, this book had an element of healing attached to it. whilst the trauma that comes with being a girl and a woman in a world where men feel entitled to take whatever they want from us and to say whatever they like to us, this book quietened all of that during the three hours i devoured it in.

the world should not work like this. girls and women of any age should be able to speak out and be believed immediately. we should not have to fight the good fight so that an adult, who is responsible for keeping us safe, will listen to us and take action to protect us. unfortunately, it is the case. knowing that young girls like hazel, ella and riley exist, knowing that they know themselves and that they are fighting for change makes me hopeful for the future. it is a fight that i was unanimously behind them in, and in real life join in.

maggie horne has created something so very special here. i cannot stop thinking about it, or what a story like this one would have done for and to me as a young girl with big feelings about the things said and done to me that i felt ashamed of. with that being said, i sincerely will be recommending this to everyone in my life regardless of age. it will be something my future children will grow up with and something friends' children will be gifted by me. and i truly hope that this is not the first and last time we join hazel and co.

finally, thank you to netgalley and firefly press for the arc. one of my favourite reads of the year so far.

This book follows Hazel Hill and her new found friends on a journey to self-realisation and friendship!

I loved this book! It was so brilliant to read and the thought of younger children reading it, possibly in times when they really need to read it, is lovely. This books shows that no matter your age, gender, sexuality, race or anything, you can be sexually assaulted, verbally or physically. It shows that people go through this all the time and stay quiet about it, this book teaches us to stand up for ourselves and use our voices in ways they need to be used. It's an extremely important book that definitely needed to be written and congratulations to Maggie Horne for being the one to write it.

I love the friendships in this book the most. The dynamic trio are friends I would have loved to have at that age.

I rated this 4 stars!

Thank you to NetGalley, Maggie Horne and the publisher for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I absolutely adored this book. It dealt with sexual assault and bullying in a way that is the harsh reality in schools, even as young as the characters are.
I love how they all came together as friends to fight to be heard, despite being ignored by multiple people who should have helped them. It’s also written in an age-appropriate way, so I hope it helps young people going through it to feel less alone.

Hazel is funny, smart, insecure, and ultimately, brave. I loved this book it was awesome. This story has such impact and I feel like it is so important to have books like this that deal with these serious themes and issues!

I love the cover of this book! It’s so cute!
The story is such an important one that is imperative to get out there and the fact this is targeted at the correct audience makes it very special.
The characters were developed very nicely and the story closed and ended in the best way.

It’s amazing seeing how things change - we’ve gone from the almost idyllic school set-up portrayed in the (excellent) Wonder series, to something much less cheering but probably more realistic to many readers: teachers and heads who either don’t like or believe their pupils, or who are cowed by parents in positions of power.

Maggie Horne’s book was inspired by remembering how she reported sexual harassment by a fellow pupil, and was believed. Here, clever 12-year-old loner Hazel (she is more focused on an upcoming speech competition, hence the title) is treated like a diary by one of her classmates, which becomes stranger when he tells her that his ex-girlfriend, popular girl Ella Quinn, has a crush on her - Hazel is gay, but not out to her family or more widely.

Hazel’s sexuality, refreshingly, is by the by. This is not a trauma or shame exercise, but rather, a coming together of girls who experience online bullying and sexual harassment and try to do something about it - and then REALLY do something about it when their initial efforts result in their being punished instead.

Horne has some wonderful, deft descriptions throughout that bring the school and home atmospheres to life, especially Hazel’s parents, who have had a surprise baby and as a result spend a lot of time reading and researching how not to mess up the elder sibling. It was a lovely reflection of modern parenting.

I was wholly here for the central friendship between Hazel, Ella and Riley, but I wish there had been a bit more colour about Ella’s own popularity - the trio exist in a bit of a vacuum. Similarly, Hazel talks to absolutely nobody else, not even via books or on the internet. She was very self-possessed. There are few boys in the story - understandably, but it would have rounded out the book to see what the harasser’s friend thought of the behaviour, as we are given hints throughout but not much more. And sadly, this behaviour rarely happens in isolation. The ending, while satisfying, set off some alarm bells that distracted from the impact, but I enjoyed the time I spent in Hazel’s company and look forward to seeing what Horne does next.

This story stands tall, proud and squarely against bullying and sexual harassment.
A rare, empowering read: Enboldening, supportive, eloquent, and gender inclusive.

It tackles supremely well a horrible issue that, for many school-age girls, and adults, has been tragically ignored or rejected. For some, it is even turned back on them as their own fault, leaving them scared and scarred.

Based on the author's own experiences, this wonderful story evolves as 12-year-old Hazel takes on the challenge to stop Tyler, a classmate and online harasser. Facing not only their fears but also parents and teachers, Hazel, Ella and their friend, Riley, discover that the path to getting the truth not just out there, but believed, is a tortuous one.

Finally, and by no means least, a significant strength of this book is that it will foster discussion. And that will raise awareness and thus open the door to save others from the same hurt. Of course, we all need to be on the same page to do that!

Without a doubt, this book has a place in and should be discussed at every school. It works across the many levels of involvement from teacher to parent, friends and family.

A well-crafted, thought-provoking, empowering story, which should be shared with those that will benefit.

This was so good! Read it in one sitting. Carefully and sensitively dealing with an important subject and perfect for children who have experienced similar problems at school- covers cyber bullying in a way I haven’t come across before!

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

Looking for a feminist, fun yet relevant, middle grade coming-of-age novel? Then Hazel Hill is Gonna Win This One is the book for you. I ended up reading this all in one sitting because the pacing is fantastic and I just wanted to keep spending time with these characters.

Hazel Hill doesn't have any friends, unless you count Tyler Harris telling her about his crush of the week, but she's happy keeping by herself and making straight A's. That is at least until she finds out something about Tyler that will make her question her relationship to him and to all of the girls in the school. I have a feeling that some may think that sexual harassment would be a too mature topic for middle grade, but if you read the novel I think you'll realize that it is exactly the opposite and perhaps we would benefit from having more books like this one.

This novel felt like a realistic portrayal of middle school, from Hazel's maybe too supportive parents to the unreasonable teachers. I also really appreciated Hazel's queerness being just a part of who she is, without the need to oversexualize her or have a traumatic homophobia storyline.

Even if I feel you can stand to learn a lot reading this book, it never ever felt preachy or like a lecture. Instead, I'm sure that you'll find yourself rooting for Hazel. When all is said and done, this is a story about the power of female friendship and speaking out.

I loved this! A powerful story about three 12-year-old girls standing up to sexual harassment with a light touch, lots of humour and a brilliant narrator in Hazel. This is an important but also really enjoyable read for middle grade students.

Hazel Hill is Gonna Win This One is a middle grade book that balances a sweet storyline with heavier themes and does it well. It’s a story about forming friendships, but also about standing against sexual harassment.

I’m not sure how best to go about reviewing this book (why is it the books you enjoyed are the hardest to find words for?) so let me just list all the things I liked about it. That’s going to be easiest.

— The friendship between Hazel, Ella Quinn and Riley. This is really central to the book and what I liked most about it was how naturally it grew. It was also pretty funny just how convinced Hazel was that Ella Quinn was somehow her nemesis, when Ella didn’t think so at all.

— Hazel’s sexuality wasn’t as central to the story. I mean, of course it mattered, because it mattered to Hazel. But this wasn’t a book about that (a fact that is still somewhat rare in MG lit at least, although growing less so).

— As I mentioned at the start, there was a good balance between navigating more serious topics, like Tyler’s sexual harassment of Ella Quinn, and a more lighthearted tone. I think that was a good way to go about the topic for an MG book: it never minimised the sexual harassment and treated it as seriously as it should be, but there were still moments of lightness within it all.

So, really, even if you don’t read much middle grade, this is a book I would highly recommend picking up.

Such a powerful book! This story has such impact and I feel like it is so important to have books like this that deal with these serious themes and issues! They are normally only addressed in adult and late teen books but I feel like it is so essential that this book has brought sexual harassment, prejudice and so many more important themes to a book that is perfect for pre and early teens! I loved reading this and I believe that all young people (especially women) should read this book! The main characters were amazing and so inspiring and the whole story line was really well designed! Such a powerful and essential story! Loved it!

Over the great many years since I was at school, there have been huge shifts in the world around me. Some of these have been enormously positive – such as the changes to the law to allow same-sex couples to marry – and some far less so. Some things, however, do not seem to have changed very much, if at all, and one such thing is the way in which some – not all – boys and men treat girls and women.

Growing up in the 1970s and 1980s, gender stereotypes were much stronger than they are now, but it wasn’t until I became a young adult that I really understood what sexual harassment is. Lacking in confidence, I had no idea what to do when I was myself harassed but what I do know is that I never once saw another female stand up for herself when put in this position – it just wasn’t done: we all put up with it. As the mother of a young woman and teacher of girls, how very grateful I am for this new read by Maggie Horne which sends a clear, strong message to all young readers that sexual harassment is unacceptable and how I wish that I had been able to read it 40 years ago.

Sexual harassment is far from the mind of young Hazel when we meet her. Trying her best in her mission to know everything, she kicks off by telling us that the one thing in which she is an expert is classmate Tyler Harris. With no real friends of her own, Hazel acts as Tyler’s confidante as he shares his secrets with her – secrets relating to the most recent girl on whom he currently has a crush, in this case apparently Ella Quinn.

Before Tyler has the chance to share his thoughts with Hazel, teacher Miss A. announces the theme for this year’s public speaking contest – something of great interest to Hazel having been beaten the previous year by Ella. When the class is given the opportunity to discuss their ideas with one another, Tyler is not interested in Hazel’s speech but shares with her the news that Ella Quinn has told him she in not only uninterested in him but has a crush on Hazel – something she instantly dismisses.

Thinking carefully about what Tyler has said, Hazel’s first concern is that Tyler might have guessed that she herself is a lesbian, but she soon comes to realise that rather than accepting Ella’s lack of interest in him, he is out for revenge and worries that he might decide to out the two girls. After school, Ella comes to sit next to Hazel on the bus going home and invites her to go skating that evening with her and best friend Riley, which the usually friendless Hazel finds very odd. At the rink, Ella confides in Hazel that she said what she did to get rid of Tyler and both girls get upset. Despite this, Hazel, Riley and Ella gradually start to start to become firm friends with one another and when Hazel discovers just how Tyler has been treating Ella, the girls decide to put a stop to his behaviour. But how can they end his harassment when they find themselves not being believed by the adults around them…?

There is so much which is good about this story that it is very hard to know where to start in recording my thoughts. Hazel has fully accepted that, for her, a social circle of friends is not going to be a thing and although she does not count Tyler as a friend, she tolerates his confiding in her as his crushes on the other girls do not initially directly affect her. When she realises that he is far from being the sweet and innocent boy that he is believed to be by the adults around them, she is outraged and very soon finds out that not only is she capable of making and having friends of her own, but that she enjoys the experience and wants to support Ella to right the wrong being done to her.

For our girls and young women to feel and, more importantly, be safer, we need to change the behaviours of those boys and men in our society who harass them and using this book in school would be such a powerful tool in educating all of our children with regard not only to sexual harassment, but also to cyber-bullying and would additionally be of great benefit to a huge number of adults who tend to dismiss this type of behaviour as boys being boys, or the fault of girls for being flirty or dressing provocatively. I don’t often wish for books to be dramatised, but such is the importance of this story that I would really love to see it being made into a serial or film so that its message reaches a wider audience.

Perfect for upper KS2 and well into KS3 and 4, this is a book that should not only be in every school library but needs to be shared with students too as a class reader. Only by working together, can we hope to stop the sort of unkind, misogynistic behaviour portrayed so clearly here. My enormous thanks go to publisher Firefly Press and to Net Galley for my advance virtual read ahead of the publication of this title on 18th October.

It's so cheesecake awful that we need books like that at middle grade. It makes me sad and so cheesecake angry at the same time. But I guess we do, and Hazel Hill is beautifully written, powerful and just so cheesecake hard hitting.
Cheesecake powerful stuff!

Hazel Hill is Gonna Win This One is such a powerful, important book and this is absolutely the right time to be bringing it out! Its message is one of perseverance and hope, that people can stand up, be heard, and they can make a difference. It's so vital and so timely. It's realistic too. There's no sugarcoating it. Standing up and speaking out is hard, it's scary, there are unfortunate and unfair consequences, and it's tiring. That all comes across so vividly throughout the novel. I love that, heart breaking though it is.

I also like how it acknowledges that it's not something everybody can do, that there will always be some victims of sexual harassment who are not prepared to speak out, and this is alright. It's a book that accepts and acknowledges the many different reactions so fairly.It's also a book about friendships, about finding the people you belong with and how empowering and important that can be. The way it handles queer romance is also subtle and very well handled. It's always there in the background, adding additional tone and depth.

With Hazel Hill is Gonna Win This One, Maggie Horne is giving us something incredibly powerful, beautiful, educating and inspiring. Definitely one to watch out for! I'll be buying my daughter a copy for sure!