Blood Pressure Award-winning author/illustrator

Aidan learns some tough lessons about life (and staying alive) in a hard-as-nails thriller to make your blood pressure soar. If you picture the perfect teen lifestyle, you probably picture something like Aidan’s. He’s pretty much got it all. A happy home in leafy suburbia. Heaps of designer gadgets. The gorgeous Emily hanging on his every word. So a trip up North with Mum to visit his dying grandad is hardly top of Aidan’s to-do list. But this isn’t just a farewell visit. There are secrets Aidan needs to be told. Who is the dodgy guy driving round in a BMW, for one thing? Why is he so attracted to Jade, who is pregnant by a local bad lad? And how will Aidan cope when he’s thrust head-first into a dark world of violence, drugs and crime? Nothing in his cushy world ever prepared him for this...

A gritty, tough YA thriller by a hugely acclaimed author

Alan Gibbons is the author of Hate and Raining Fire

He won the Blue Peter Award for Shadow of the Minotaur

Topical theme of a teen navigating a dark gangland world

“A violent, hectic and highly readable thriller.” School Librarian

“Gibbons delivers with perfection, weaving an eventful tale with his distinctive, straight-to-the-point style.” The Teacher

Product Details

Catalogue number

9165 in ROW Secondary Rewards Catalogue 2018/19 and 454 in ROW Teen Jan 2019

Format

Paperback

ISBN

9781842551998

Publisher

Orion Children's Books (an Imprint of The Orion Publishing Group Ltd )

Date published

May 5th, 2005

Lexile measure

480L Lexiles are the global standard in reading assessment. They are unique as they are able to measure a child and a book on the same scale – ensuring the right book gets to the right child at the right time.

For more details see What is a lexile?.