Alex Wheatle Knihy

In this breathtaking memoir, acclaimed writer Alex Wheatle shows how music became his salvation

Winner of the Guardian Children Fiction's Prize 2016 Shortlisted for the YA Book Prize 2017 Living on the South Crongton council estate has its worries - and life for McKay has been even tougher since his mum died. His dad has been working all hours to keep the bailiffs from their door. His brother is always out riding the streets at night, tempting trouble. And now, having strayed off his turf on a 'heroic' (if misguided) mission to help out a girl, McKay finds himself facing a friend's crazy ex-boyfriend, some power-tripping hood-rats and a notoriously violent gangster with a vendetta which hits too close to home. Poor McKay. He never asked for trouble . . . But during one madcap night of adventure and danger, he will find out who his true friends are and what it means to stick with your family. Crongton Knights is a very funny, very moving story that shows that although life is testing, the lessons learned the hard way are the ones you'll never forget.

From the acclaimed author of Liccle Bit and Crongton Knights, comes another story from the fictional South Crong council estate

Nobody free till everybody free.Moa is fourteen. The only life he has ever known is working on the Frontier sugar cane plantation for endless hot days, fearing the vicious whips of the overseers. Then one night he learns of an uprising, led by the charismatic Tacky. Moa is to be a cane warrior, and fight for the freedom of all the enslaved people in the nearby plantations. But before they can escape, Moa and his friend Keverton must face their first great task: to kill their overseer, Misser Donaldson. Time is ticking, and the day of the uprising approaches... Irresistible, gripping and unforgettable, Cane Warriors follows the true story of Tacky's War in Jamaica, 1760.

Brixton Rock is the powerfully explosive debut of one of the UK's finest writers

Set in Brixton, 20 years after the race riots, The Dirty South follows the adventures of Bricky teenager Dennis Huggins as he drifts into the easy, dangerous life of the shotta - or drug dealer - and discovers that, hard as the struggle for respect on the streets is, the struggle for love is harder still. At least Dennis has involved parents looking out for him; too many of his friends have no guidance other than that offered by their fellow shottaz, or the dubiously motivated black Muslims. Wheatle brilliantly evokes the temptations of the thug life for young black men growing up in London's 'Dirty South' - a fast, compelling novel that offers no easy answers, but refuses to shy away from asking the difficult questions.

Four friends decide to run away from the horror of their everyday lives in a children's home in the English countryside. They head for the woods, their sense of freedom surprises them, and for the first time they feel the exhilaration of adolescence. Yet the forest slowly asserts its own power and what happens there will affect the four boys' lives forever. With his trademark humour, compelling narrative directness, and rhythmic prose, Alex Wheatle here shows himself to be an author of real calibre, exposing the social stigma associated with children's homes, and the psychological consequences of their impact on sensitive children. Never losing pace or failing to engage the reader at every moment, `Home Boys' is an unflinchingly honest depiction of childhood.

»Home Girl« erzählt von der 14-jährigen Naomi, die trotz vieler Enttäuschungen und Stress in ihrem Leben Hoffnung findet. In ihrer neuen Pflegefamilie bei den Goldings erlebt sie, wie Fremde zu Familie werden können. Das Buch thematisiert Jugend im Fürsorgesystem, Rassismus und die Suche nach einem Zuhause.

Lemar Jackson ist 14 Jahre alt, und obwohl er nur der Zweitkleinste in seinem Jahrgang ist, nennen ihn, zu seinem großen Missfallen, alle »Liccle Bit«. Jonah und McKay sind seine besten Freunde, und dennoch ziehen sie ihn ständig damit auf, dass er keine Chancen bei Mädchen hat. Erst recht nicht bei Venetia King, dem heißesten Mädchen der Schule. Umso erstaunter sind alle, als Venetia ihn bittet, ein Porträt von ihr zu zeichnen. Ist das etwa ein erstes Date? Doch auch Manjaro, der berüchtigte Anführer der Gang von South Crongton, beginnt auf einmal, sich für ihn zu interessieren, und bevor Lemar sich versieht, erledigt er kleine Aufträge für ihn. Als der erste Tote im Viertel auftaucht, erkennt Lemar, dass er schon viel zu tief in dem eskalierenden Bandenkrieg steckt und so auf keinen Fall weitermachen kann. Aber wie soll er seinen Kopf aus der Schlinge ziehen, die sich immer weiter zuschnürt?