Cringe Club: Volume 1 - The start of a hilarious new series

By Author / Illustrator

Emily-Jane Clark, Wotto

Genre

Funny Stories

Age range(s)

11+

Publisher

Simon & Schuster

ISBN

9781398543522

Format

Paperback / softback

Published

31-07-2025

Synopsis

Welcome to the group chat! It's called Cringe Club because, as you might have guessed, it contains a cringe binge of EPIC proportions.

My name is Kennedy King and I have been FORCED to move to London by The Mother. I have just started Hellington High School (aka HELL HIGH). The only GOOD thing about moving is that The Mother has finally agreed to let me have my own phone (guilt present) so I can stay in touch with my best friends. Enter at your own risk (of cringe) and remember . . . what is said in Cringe Club, STAYS in Cringe Club.

Features themes of fitting in and making friends, starting a new school and (most importantly) embracing your cringe! Illustrations throughout. Perfect for fans of Lottie Brooks and Dork Diaries.

Readers LOVE the Cringe Club: "The perfect book for reluctant teens". "Books like this make reading a joy". "Hilarious and perfect for tweens". Emily-Jane Clark won the BASH award and the Fantastic Book Award with her debut.

Download Extract

Reviews

Jenny

Cringe Club is a thoroughly entertaining and engaging contemporary tween/teen fiction, written in the style of whatsapp group chats and lists between the cast of characters. It is a fun, fast-paced and relatable/relevant read for its target young audience. Author Emily Jane Clark cleverly creates different, distinct characters even in this social media-styled conversational narrative.

Kennedy King and her two best friends have just started to navigate life at secondary school and, now they aren't all together as their primary school trio, have set up an online chat group , called "Cringe Club", where the daily events of their new (often excruciatingly embarrassing, awkward or surprisingly amazing) school life can be divulged and discussed. Great illustrations by Wotto bring the characters to life and reflect the modern, lively format.

The ups and downs of the Cringe Club's new experiences will resonate wonderfully with its readers; providing humour, understanding, comfort and support along the way. Kennedy's family group chat also provides a charming insight into the bonds of family life, with her newly-divorced mum and older, popular sister. Again the chats are lighthearted yet meaningful and create connections with young readers' own experiences.

A brilliant idea, wonderfully crafted, that draws out a thoroughly engaging storyline and world using short bursts of text-talk, creating engaging, likeable characters that the reader hopes to meet again.

352 pages / Reviewed by Jenny Caddick, teacher

Emma

Cringe Club by Emily Jane Clark is a fabulously hilarious book, written from the perspective of Kennedy King. Forced to move school by her mother - AKA The Mother - the story unfolds in a series of messages (this is an ingenious way to engage reluctant readers rather than pages of prose) between Kennedy and her new year 7 friendship group.

Cringe Club is aimed at year 7 pupils age 11+ and it has some really important themes running through such as friendship, identity, belonging, and resilience make it highly relatable. In the classroom, Cringe Club could be used to explore digital communication, online safety, and empathy, sparking thoughtful discussions about how we present ourselves online and deal with social pressures.

Children who enjoy humour, diary-style writing, and realistic school stories will love Kennedy's witty voice and the authentic portrayal of modern teenage life.

352 pages / Reviewed by Emma Nelson, teacher