This is a brave, brutal story told with a shocking immediacy. Alex Wheatle has created a disturbing portrait of life in a children s home, in language which is plain, unsparing, and heart-rendingly poignant * Daily Mail * Strong and meaningful * Independent on Sunday * This is a book to read and nourish ... For it is a book which never gives up on its characters and, doing such, also never gives up on its readers * Morning Star * Impossible to put down * Buzz Magazine * Alex Wheatle writes from a place of honesty and passion with the full knowledge and understanding that change can only happen through words and actions -- Steve McQueen A gripping, horrifying and moving adventure story -- Maggie Gee I think I went through every emotion possible whilst reading this book and was bereft when I got to the end * 5/4 nudge-book.com * With this groundbreaking work of fiction, Wheatle has produced what is truly the most moving book I have read this year * The New Nation * A beautifully written poetic portrayal of loyalty, friendship, and boyhood adventure * Big Issue * Alex Wheatle, always a gripping writer, has given us an important work about life as a kid in care in the 1970s and how brutality and abuse within the system can continue to distort and destroy lives down the years * Teen Librarian *