Ludo and Nel may have come from the same womb on the same day but they definitely see the world differently.
Ludo is popular with over-the-top friends and their mum cannot see how annoying he is, according to Nel.
Neil is an Emo. Quiet, shy and lives life through music, her sanctuary.
Exams are looming and so are band gigs. Ludo thinks he knows it all and soon discovers that he can’t keep up his band practice at the same time as studying for his exams. His life begins to fall apart as he juggles the expectations on him from family and his peers.
Labelled a loser by most at her school, Nel’s own love of music leads her off on her own path as she tries to ignore the ridicule that constantly heads her way. Family relationships are strained, especially between her and her twin brother. Those she thought she loved make her think twice about trusting others again.
They’re both at breaking point dealing with the expectations they place on themselves and from those around them, how do they find their way back when everything else seems to be getting in the way?
How can Nel bring her brother back to reality? Shake him out of his funk and be a better person? On the flip side, how does Ludo ensure Nel sees her worth and the difference she makes in the world?
As sibling rivalries goes, Everything Amplified certainly has the reader on the edge of their seat.
Sarah Lippett is an Edinburgh-based graphic novelist, illustrator and author. Her first graphic novel, Stan and Nan (Jonathan Cape 2016) won the Quentin Blake Prize and was a Guardian bestseller. Her second, A Puff of Smoke (Jonathan Cape, 2019) was a Guardian graphic novel of 2019. Sarah is one half of Onion Press and lectures in illustration at University of Edinburgh.
Ziggy Hanaor is writer and publisher living in London. She is the author of V&A award-winning graphic novel Alte Zachen (2022), Carnegie-nominated The Egg Incident (2023) and Life (As We Know It) (2025), as well as picture books including Alex and Alex (2021) and The Pocket Chaotic (2020) – all Cicada.
