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Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
Kevin Brooks (Kissing the Rain, Martyn Pig, Lucas) excels at portraying the gritty details of English underclass life, and here, in a story of a boy desperately in love, he has written an irresistibly suspenseful and compelling YA novel.
Kevin Brooks (Kissing the Rain, Martyn Pig, Lucas) excels at portraying the gritty details of English underclass life, and here, in a story of a boy desperately in love, he has written an irresistibly suspenseful and compelling YA novel.
When Joe Beck, a fifteen-year-old suburban kid, gets lost in a disreputable neighborhood on his way to an appointment in London, he is struck dumb by his first sight of beautiful and seemingly innocent Candy. She talks with him, teases him, but reveals nothing about herself except her phone number. Later they have a perfect day at the London Zoo, and soon Joe is as addicted to Candy as she is to heroin, in spite of the threats of her menacing pimp Iggy. Almost nothing matters except his desire to free her from her terrible life -- not his band’s chance for a recording contract, not the song he has written for her that has become a hit without him. But there is something that still matters to him, and when he rescues the young prostitute from her sordid rooming house and takes her into hiding to sweat out her addiction, Iggy finds and uses that one thing that is stronger than Joe’s passion for Candy, in a heart-thumping, breathless conclusion. (Age 14 and up) -- Patty Campbell
From School Library Journal
Grade 9 Up–Joe is boring. He lives in a comfortable London suburb. He does alright in school, but shows no real promise. He plays in a band, but is less than passionate about music. Then he meets Candy. She is 16, beautiful, addicted to heroin, and a prostitute. She's also the only girl ever to look at him twice. He convinces himself that he loves her, and tries to get her off smack and the streets. Her enormous, terrifying pimp is very unhappy with Joe, and tries to murder him and everyone he loves. Brooks's plotting is masterful, and the action twists and builds to a frenzied and violent climax. Unfortunately, much of the book leading to this climax is filled with Joe's simpering, prosaic inner monologues. The author embellishes the teen's narration with stanzas of fragment or one-word sentences, which are more pretentious than dramatic or pointed. For all the fuss made over her, Candy's character is underdeveloped. If readers assume the book isn't about her, but how she changes Joe, her lack of nuance makes some sense. The shame is that he is the same humorless robot before and after risking his life for her. The minor characters–Joe's sassy sister and her tough, good-guy boyfriend–are so smartly and lightly drawn that they elicit more emotion than Joe and Candy.–Johanna Lewis, New York Public Library
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Product Details
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