I wanted to go beyond thinking of teenage pregnancy as a problem. I was interested in exploring the complex feelings that surround any pregnancy, whether you are a teenager or not – the ambivalence you can experience even if you have made an active decision to have a baby. And I also wanted to explore motherhood itself – what it means to be a mother and the many different forms it can take in this most ‘unmotherly’ of societies in which we live.

There are thousands of young women who become pregnant in this country each year. Being a teenage mum is often a real struggle. But it isn’t always a tragedy, because babies themselves are such a miracle: life-affirming, hopeful, with the potential to transform lives.

Julia Green lives in Bath with her partner and two children. She lectures part-time in English and creative writing, leads writing workshops for adults and young people, and works as a home-tutor for children who are not attending school. Blue moon is her first novel for young adults.