'The concept is so original and so gripping that I can't get it out of my head…Joe with an E encourages the reader to explore questions about gender, identity, family and belonging all through a page-turning adventure.'Sarah Hagger-Holt, author of Nothing Ever Happens Here and The Fights That Make UsBritain is populated by genetically engineered neuts – no males, no females.Joe is a boy – an anomaly who should have been destroyed in the pregnancy pod, or given corrective surgery as soon as he was born. Rescued by DiG, an underground network, he's nurtured to full-term and handed over to his parents. His differences must be kept hidden.But now his body is changing, it won't be possible to pass as a neut for much longer.The heart-wrenching decision is made – he must go to the island, where there's a secret community of others like him. The perilous journey to get there isn't the end of Joe's troubles. It's just the start. Paul Rand grew up in Hampshire, UK but has now lived well over half his life in the North of England – in Yorkshire and Cumbria. After thirteen years working as an engineer, he completed teacher training and has since been working as a secondary school teacher, teaching a mixture of maths, business, and computing. Paul currently teaches part-time, and when he's not teaching or writing, he's probably doing something for the Methodist church of which his wife is the minister.Paul and his family like to holiday on small islands, both at home and abroad, preferring islands that are a little off the beaten track. They have enjoyed several holidays on the Isle of Muck, which is the inspiration for the island in Joe with an E.
