 The Chicken House published Massey's first novel, TORN in August 2012 which was Lancashire Book of the Year winner the following year.In its first full year of circulation, TORN was long-listed for the Branford Boase Award, and the Waterstone's Children's Book Prize.David's first novel has also been voted one of the most important books of 2014 in the United States by a group of twelve educators from the National Council for the Social Studies and has been nominated for the Georgia Peach awards 2014/15.