Anne has written more than sixty books for children and young people. Amongst numerous other awards, she is twice winner of both the Carnegie Medal, Britain's most prestigious children's book award, and the Whitbread Award. Twice chosen as Children's Author of the Year in the British Book Awards, Anne Fine was also the first novelist to be honoured as Children's Laureate in the United Kingdom. In 2003, Anne became a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and was awarded an OBE. Her work has been translated into forty five languages. This award-winning teenage novel -- it was the Whitbread Children's Book of the Year in 1996 -- is a hard-hitting psychological portrayal of an abusive friendship which poses the eternal question, are people ever born evil? It also asks whether it is enough for people to shake their heads and pass judgement while assuming it's somebody else's responsibility to deal with the root causes of antisocial behaviour.

In the USA, The Tulip Touch was chosen as an ALA Notable Children's Book; the Booklist Editor's Choice - "Top of the List" Fiction; Bulletin, Blue Ribbon List, 1997; School Library Journal's "Best Books of '97"; River Bank Review"Children's Book of Distinction", Arizona Library Association Young Readers Award 200 Nomination.

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Tulip is seldom seen in Natalie's new school. As their relationship grows, Natalie notices the slight change in her friend's behaviour. Tulip was always unpopular and disliked amongst the other children, but that wasn't all. Soon, her games change from awkward and annoying to sadistic and often dangerous, such as tormenting strangers or endangering Natalie's younger brother Julius. Natalie finds out that Tulip's father is abusive to Tulip and her mother. Natalie's family are initially sympathetic towards Tulip, knowing the extent of the abuse to which Tulip and her mother are subjected. However, as her behaviour becomes more dangerous and erratic, Natalie's parents encourage her to end the friendship for their own good.

Either way, I relish every minute of getting to meet my readers, and part of the reason I appreciate it, Anne, is you.Tulip creates unease from her first appearance and Anne Fine’s storytelling tightens the unsettling knot chapter by chapter. As Natalie is drawn towards this strange girl and her increasingly bizarre games, the reader realises the danger Tulip presents. Although other people seem mundane in comparison to Tulip's spontaneity and wild imagination, Natalie makes new friends. Meanwhile, Tulip's behaviour has grown more violent, stabbing bus seats and burning litter bins. When Tulip is not invited to the big Christmas party at The Palace, she manages to burn down the hotel, endangering Natalie's family and their guests. For a kid living in a big literary city like Edinburgh or London, meeting authors might not be such a big deal. Authors tend to work hard to promote their books and the ones I know do as many events as they can. But let me tell you, rural Aberdeenshire in the 80s was not a hotbed of literary discovery, and you coming to town meant a lot. I think that was the point when I realized writing could be a career. Maybe one day, I could be a writer too. And adult readers may also pause to consider how even grown-ups can be powerless to change situations, either because of their own inadequacies or because systems aren't in place to allow justice to be done. Through moral ambiguities, challenges and personal courage we are led along the narrative path this novel hastens to take us.

The Tulip Touch is a children's novel written by Anne Fine and published in 1996. The book raises questions of morality and accountability, as well as exploring the question of nature versus nurture. It won the Whitbread Award and was Highly Commended for the Carnegie Medal.

About Anne Fine

Narrator Natalie's parents manage hotels, and while she is still at primary school, with a younger brother at the screaming stage, the family take charge of a hundred-room residence called The Palace and its grounds. Despite much repair work needing to be done the hotel is a warren for her to explore and lose herself in. Soon afterwards she and her father come across a solitary waif standing in a nearby field and take her under their wing, but it is soon clear that Tulip is a very strange, even a dangerous individual.