Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé is the instant New York Times, International bestselling & Award-winning author of Ace of Spades, billed as ‘Get Out meets Gossip Girl’, Entertainment Weekly has called it “Summer 2021 hottest YA debut.” Her next novel, Where Sleeping Girls Lie, is another YA contemporary romance about a girl new to boarding school who discovers dark secrets and coverups after her roommate disappears. Her most recent book, Four Kids and a Funeral, is about ex-best friends who must work together to save their Islamic Center for demolition.
Born and raised in Croydon, South London, Faridah moved to the Scottish Highlands for her undergraduate degree where she completed a BA in English Literature. She is currently pursuing an MA in Shakespeare Studies from Kings College London.
She is a Morris Award 2022 Finalist, the winner of the Books Are My Bag 2021 Reader’s Award for Young Adult Fiction, and the winner of the 53rd NAACP Image Awards in the Outstanding Literary Work for Youth/Teens. Abíké-Íyímídé established and runs a mentorship scheme for unagented writers of colour, helping them on their journey to get published. She has also written for NME, The Bookseller, Readers Digest and gal-dem.
“Ace of Spades was such a wonderful and thrilling read. Perfect for fans of authors Karen McManus and Courtney Summers, and the perfect mix of Pretty Little Liars and Gossip Girl turned deadly. Ace of Spades goes in depth into the politics of systemic racism at an educational level, social eugenics and economic barriers for Black students. I could not put this book down, and I cannot wait to share this book with our customers. This is the YA thriller of the year, hands down and no question about it.” — Christian Vega, The Astoria Bookshop, Astoria, NY
