STAHS alumna Rachel Churcher (1993) is celebrating winning her second finalist medal from the Wishing Shelf Book Awards, with her 2023 indie-published novel, Angels.

The awards, announced in April 2024, are open to independently published and small-press authors worldwide, and each category is judged by readers in the target audience.

“My book is aimed at Young Adult readers,” Rachel explains. “Most book awards are judged by adults, but winning a finalist medal in the Wishing Shelf Awards shows that keen teenage readers loved the novel. That's a great boost for an author!”

Angels is an LGBTQ+ 'finding yourself' story with a twist, which addresses homophobia, racism, and other forms of discrimination. Told through the eyes of Mel, an art student coming to terms with a traumatic and defining event in her past, the book celebrates friendship, and explores themes of attraction, identity and self-expression.

Rachel's first novel, Battle Ground, won a finalist medal and a bronze medal in the 2019 Wishing Shelf Awards, as well as a bronze medal from the Readers' Favorite Awards in the same year. The Battle Ground Series is a YA dystopia set in the UK, appealing to fans of The Hunger Games, Divergent, and The Maze Runner.

Find all Rachel's books on her website, tallerbooks.com, and download a completely free novella at freebook.tallerbooks.com .