29 Locks

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And it just works so, so well, raising so many ideas and issues in a provoking way that forces the reader to reconsider perspectives and challenges them to think differently. Growing up in Hackney with his loving but troubled single mum, fifteen-year-old Donny's life has been shaped by poverty, crime and casual violence, including grooming by a local gang. The novel offers a disturbing insight into the plight of unaccompanied child refugees in the camps around Calais.

Growing up in Hackney with his loving but troubled single mum, fifteen-year-old Donny’s life has been shaped by poverty, crime and casual violence, including grooming by a local gang. Older, wiser and more confident, life is going well for the former gang member who’d escaped a brutal life of criminal exploitation. This book demonstrates the realities and continuous cycle of drugs and violence of childhood in poverty.There are enough references to 29 Locks to make it an utterly convincing sequel, but it works absolutely as a standalone story. Some of the data that are collected include the number of visitors, their source, and the pages they visit anonymously. Her writing is gritty and gripping but full of compassion, and from the very first page I felt completely invested in Donny’s story.

When they start out on their journey, the future for both of them looks unpromising, like the fake audition, but as each lock is navigated and conquered, as the waters fall then rise again, their adventure takes on a new dimension. When Donny's posh new friend Zoe is offered a dubious modelling audition in London, the pair decide to 'borrow' a canal barge and navigate the 29 locks down to Kings Cross. Locks is suitable for students over 13 years of age and provides a nuanced route to discussing issues such as poverty, drugs, knife crime and racism.

Miles revisits the much-loved protagonist of 29 Miles two years after his canal boat adventure as a fifteen-year-old. His devotion to her through the years of his childhood never falters, even leading him to feel guilt when enjoying the cooking of his foster mother.

But when Donny and his best friend Zoe plan a day trip to France ahead of their sixth form exams, Donny loses his passport and is arrested as an ‘illegal’ migrant. The first part shows poverty stricken Donny’s early life with his drug abusing mother and the event that leads to him ending up in the foster care system. A fast-paced, tender and unflinching depiction of teenage friendship and resilience against the odds. No, what 29 Locks has is the ability to knock the reader down and make them sorely wish you could help Donny escape what seems to be an inevitable conclusion - another teenage addict, a runner for some arrogant faceless monster who loves money and cares little about consequences, a name on a faded memorial. I was rooting for Donny from the off, and the unwavering love he had for his mother despite the crappy life she gave him, was heart warming.Locks by Nicola Garrard is a Young Adult book which I was drawn to immediately with the bright cover and the synopsis. Heartbreaking but ultimately hopeful, the exhilarating plot and memorable characters combine to create a true page-turner. When Donny is taken from London finally and to Hertfordshire, he feels out of his depth and is taunted by his classmates who judge him by both how he looks and where he comes from. Set between the violent estates of inner-city London and the rural home counties, 29 Locks tells the story of 15-year-old Donny, an ex-gang member from Hackney who is fostered outside of London after the disappearance of his beloved mother. I was a runner up in the Poetry Book Society poetry competition, judged by one of my heroes, Carol Ann Duffy.