Inspiring Young Readers

posted on 06 Feb 2026

New You For Ever by Steve Cole

The ever-excellent Steve Cole is back with another socially conscious and thought-provoking read, ideal for readers aged 10 and above. Here at Letterpress we’ve reviewed his novels before (here and here) and this back-catalogue shows just how tuned-in he is to the concerns of the rising generations – environmentalism and technology looms large, as it does in New You For Ever, which takes us deeper into the future and shows us the sort of issues that may confront society as technology (especially AI) embeds itself.

At the heart of the story is Anders Jones, just 14 and, along with his father, the creators and presenters of the TV news show, ‘And Finally’ – a sort of digest of feel-good news snippets that broadcasts twice a week. But this modest, uncontroversial show is just about to find itself with a massive scoop when The New You Foundation gives it unique access to its latest, jaw-dropping announcement.

The New You Foundation specialises in offering the rich and powerful the chance to live forever by having their digitalised personalities downloaded into android bodies that will never age. Now, under the guise of being socially responsible about the climate and population, they’re offering younger and younger people the chance to abandon their human bodies and switch to being ‘Pleekas’ – the name for these androids derived from the word ‘replica’.

But doesn’t all this seem just a bit too good to be true? And why has one of the Foundations sternest critics suddenly undergone some kind of massive conversion and is now heading-up the promotion of Pleekas?

Anders and his dad are about to discover the horrible truth – but who can they trust? Just knowing which side you’re on is like being in a hall of mirrors. If Anders is going to expose the real truth behind what the Foundation are up to, he’s going to have to face plenty of jeopardy: the threat to turn him Pleeka against his will is a real one…

At a time when the debate about the future of AI and the sort of society it will help us create is just getting going, is it possible that the big technology companies already have their masterplans on the drawing board? What will it mean to be human in the future and can we learn to be the masters of technology rather than its slaves?

Steve Cole’s book opens all these debates and will get the readers thinking but it’s also a breathless thriller that will get you turned page after page to find out the twists and turns of Anders’ battle with big tech.

Available now from Barrington Stoke, who specialise in titles for reluctant readers of all kinds, you will be able to get a copy from your local independent bookshop – who will be happy to order it for you if they don’t have it on their shelves.

 

Terry Potter

February 2026