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*DOUBLE-WINNER KPMG CHILDREN’S BOOKS IRELAND AWARDS 2025*
*SHORTLISTED YOTO CARNEGIE MEDAL FOR WRITING 2025*
*LONGLISTED UKLA BOOK AWARD 2025*
*A 2025 READ FOR EMPATHY BOOK*
*SUNDAY TIMES IRELAND BEST CHILDREN’S BOOKS 2024*

“A fantastically clever novel” – Sarah Crossan
“Everyone who loved Derry Girls, this is the book for you!” – Sarah Webb
“Full of authentic humour, youthful hyperbole and hope” – Big Issue, Books of the Year 2024
“A smart, deeply moving book” – The Irish Times
“A beautifully written romance that pulls you in different directions” – Scotland on Sunday
“Authentic humour and heartbreak” – The Sunday Times Ireland

A bittersweet romance that takes a new look at teen pregnancy, the magic and mess of first relationships, and a young woman’s right to choose her own future.

Beneath the New Year’s Eve fireworks, shy science-nerd Mel and slacker songwriter Sid get pregnant on their first date. Any sixteen-year-olds would expect trouble – but this is Northern Ireland 2018, where abortion is still illegal. Mel’s religious parents insist she must keep the baby, whilst Sid’s feminist mum pushes for a termination.

Mel and Sid are determined to do this together, but they soon discover that pregnancy is totally different for boys and girls. When their relationship starts to fall apart under all the pressure, Mel finds herself feeling alone with the impossible dilemma of the Little Bang growing inside her.

“Deeply true. A book to press into the hands of others” – Deirdre Sullivan

Publisher Review

Full of authentic humour, youthful hyperbole and hope... McCaughrain is careful not to be didactic or reductive. In the end this is a story about young relationships and concerns with believable, sympathetic characters. -- Books of the Year * The Big Issue * Little Bang is both warm and wise and its exploration of teenage pregnancy and abortion feels rooted in reality. * The Bookseller * I found myself both smiling and frowning as I read. A fantastically clever novel which feels completely relevant. -- Sarah Crossan Reading it, I had a sense that I was hand in hand with my teenage self... A book that prompts conversation and compassion; a book about choices and timelines and connection, and deep, lonely courage. -- Deirdre Sullivan, author of Savage Her Reply Romantic, funny, important. -- Jenny Ireland, author of The First Move