The Baby and Fly Pie [Library Binding]

Melvin Burgess (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1996 | Age Level: 11 and up

After finding a kidnapped baby who is worth millions, three homeless teens are faced with a serious predicament and must decide what to do about the situation, in a powerful story of morals versus survival.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Shortlisted for England's Carnegie Medal for children's fiction, this stark and steely novel has lots of taut action but no silver lining. Three "rubbish kids," throwaways in a grimy and lawless London of the future, stumble on a kidnapped baby whose ransom is set at 17 million pounds. Expecting they can get a reward for returning baby Sylvie to her rich parents, Jane, Sham and Fly Pie cart the baby from violent trash heap to teeming slum, thinking of a plan to save both the baby and themselves from a pitiful life on the run. Burgess's alarmingly drawn future England of orphans, rags, desperation and gangs is compelling, but one in which Oliver Twist and even Fagan would fear to tread. The undercurrent of commentary on the dubious future of England may be lost on all but the most sophisticated of American YA readers. Ages 12-up.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal

Grade 6-10?London of the future is a bleak, desperate, polluted place for Davey, known as Fly Pie, and his friend Sham, orphaned boys who spend their days scouring an enormous dump for wares to salvage. One day they discover, hiding in an old warehouse, a wounded gunman with a kidnapped baby, and they learn that a 17 million pound ransom has been demanded for the child's safe return. When the man dies, Fly Pie's sister Jane (who had recently been sold into prostitution) joins the boys in a scheme to sequester the baby until they can locate its family and then try to claim a reward. In an effort to escape capture, they flee to a squatter city outside London, set up a miserable tent in the mud, and learn the identity of the child. The baby is old enough to splash gleefully in puddles, but seems conveniently objectified and immobile much of the time, an unrealistic element in Fly Pie's first-person narrative. As the adolescents experience continuing discord and fear of treachery among themselves, the pace begins to drag, but Jane takes a leadership role and arranges a rendezvous. "Treasure is dreams and even when you know you should, you can't let dreams go" muses Fly Pie as he fantasizes about life as more than a "rubbish kid." So they prepare?with equal measures of hope and fear?for the face-to-face meeting with the baby's mother, knowing that even though they aspire to do what is right, they may well be tracked down as heartless kidnappers. The ambiguous ending is a fitting conclusion to this intriguing, dark tale.?Susan W. Hunter, Riverside Middle School, Springfield, VT
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 11 and up
  
• Library Binding: 184 pages
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster (Juv) (May 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 068980489X
• ISBN-13: 978-0689804892
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #7,231,665 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars I didn't put this book down, May 27, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: The Baby and Fly Pie (Library Binding)

When I bought this book I didn't expect it to be as good as it was. It was a quick and easy read but it was very enjoyable. The whole way through the book you are waitng to find out what the three kids are going to do next. I found the end a bit strange and you think "Why did that happen?" and in some parts you end up hating the characters, but it was extremely good on the whole.

5.0 out of 5 stars Depressing, but good, June 19, 2003

By 

Casey (Pittsburgh, PA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Baby and Fly Pie (Library Binding)

I've owned this book for over 6 years before I read it. I'm 20 now, and found the book in my old bedroom. I decided to read it cause I had nothing else, and finished it in the same night. It was amazingly depressing and tragic. I hated most the characters through-out the book. For being uncaring, decefitful, or too caring and stupid. But it was an engaging book. Even for my age. I almost think it might be too violent and depressing for young adults though. But, if you can handle that sort of thing, I'd recommend it. It's a fast and easy read too.