From the Publisher
“A fierce advocate for young people in all his books, Burgess pulls no punches in this story.” —Los Angeles Times
“As unsettling as readers will find this dark story, it is no Dantesque vision but rather a tough examination, an almost sociological case study at times, of what happens when a pretty good kid enters a truly bad system. Readers familiar with Dickens’s Nicholas Nickleby and Oliver Twist will find obvious parallels here that will deepen their appreciation for Burgess’s novel.” —Horn Book Magazine
“While it is disturbing to think that the plot of Oliver Twist slots seamlessly into a more contemporary story, Burgess’ stark realism and unflinching portrayal of the life and prospects of kids trapped in an ineffectual juvenile care system is undeniably credible, mostly because he is so effective in creating psychologically complex characters.” —BCCB
“Burgess is a genius in drawing readers into a compelling, dramatic, and candid read. He examines the dark underbelly of society and the powers that corrupt and exploit its youth, yet offers an ultimately positive and hopeful message. This book will stay with readers long after they put it down.” —School Library Journal
“A powerful and gripping tale. . . . Harrowing and intense, and he excels at getting inside the heads and motivations of his many flawed characters.” —Publishers Weekly
“A small note of hope ends this gripping but harsh tale.” —Kirkus Reviews
“Burgess writes with harrowing authenticity about the dynamics of abuse, and the fragile healing suggested at the book’s end will leave readers asking wider questions about how best to reclaim and protect society’s most vulnerable individuals.” —Booklist
“Melvin Burgess is the ideal author to recount these travails.” —The Independent
“Harrowing . . . riveting. . . . [Its] psychological insights are richly rewarding . . . unputdownable.” —The Daily Telegraph
Publishers Weekly
Carnegie Medalist Burgess (Smack) delivers a brutal story of rape and abuse in the British child-care system that begins as a powerful and gripping tale, but poor pacing and characters that can feel like Dickensian clichés weaken its impact somewhat. Fourteen-year-old Nick, the titular protagonist, gets home from a day of cutting school to find that his mother has overdosed on heroin. Orphaned, he eventually ends up in the child-care system at the Meadow Hill Assessment Centre, where the other boys--as well as the housemaster--beat him, and only the kindly Mr. Creal offers any hope. That hope is soon shattered when Creal rapes Nick, and Nick's attempts to tell anyone what happened result in verbal abuse, torture, and more rape. Burgess's story is harrowing and intense, and he excels at getting inside the heads and motivations of his many flawed characters. But once Nick decides to escape from the home, Burgess tries to channel too many elements of Oliver Twist, including Fagan reinvented as a Rastafarian. The ending feels more like a rushed epilogue than actual storytelling. Ages 14–up. (Dec.)
VOYA
- Jane G. Van Wiemokly
After his mother overdoses in 1984 in Manchester, England, fourteen-year-old Nick is placed in a boys' home, where violence and sexual abuse are prevalent. Assistant director Creal has the perfect opportunity to sexually abuse boys, including Nick. After one failed attempt at escape, Nick and another friend manage to get away. Because he no longer trusts anyone, he lives on the street and begins working for a drug dealer. He survives for a while, until a chance sighting of Creal. It turns out that Creal has left his mark on others, who are now adults. One particular adult, the violent, petty criminal boyfriend of a female acquaintance, was also abused by Creal and plots to kill him. After a botched murder attempt and another violent confrontation, it is not until the last chapter and many years later that Nick can finally turn his life around. This is not a happy novel, despite Nick's strength and eventual survival. The horrors of violence, rape, and physical abuse are shown, as well as the long-term effects to Nick's psyche. It is not for the faint of heart, or for those in denial that seamy and dreadful things do happen. Children, teens, and even adults who are helpless deserve protection and due stewardship. A gritty and tragic indictment of "the system" is shown in this well-thought-out book. The compelling story had me page turning, even as I was appalled by what was happening. Reviewer: Jane G. Van Wiemokly
Children's Literature
- Uma Krishnaswami
Fourteen-year-old Nicholas Dane doesn't live the good life; far from it. His mum, Muriel, to his knowledge, is a recovering drug addict trying to pull herself together, taking classes, stumbling and struggling. But at least they have each other, and at the opening of the book, it would appear that Nick's most pressing problem is his mother nagging at him to get out of bed and go to school. By the end of the day Muriel's dead on the rug and Nick has no home or family, a turn of events that launches this reworking in a 1980's setting of an Oliver Twist scenario. It turns out that Nick's mother not only died of an overdose but was using drugs in secret for years; on the heels of this disclosure, he gets sent to a home for boys. This is an arresting novel, with its emotional landscape of despair, violence, unresolved grief, and abuse both emotional and sexual. Nick's journey in the grim institutional setting is the most compelling part of the story, as the exploitation of the boys creeps surely toward chilling plausibility. British writer Burgess (Smack and Doing It) manages to shift the narrative viewpoint, mostly adroitly, among his many characters. This, along with connecting passages of omniscient narrative, allows the story's tension to be driven in large measure by the reader's remaining at all times a touch ahead of Nick. The length of time covered threatens to dissipate tension in places, but the story gathers momentum again in its sweep toward Nick's ultimate survival and even a semblance of hope. In its best passages, Nicholas Dane taps that place "where pain, fear, and love have become one and the same thing." When the last pages have been turned, haunting questions remain about the nature of power and violence, the ineffectiveness of social service interventions, and the punitive potential of institutional care. Reviewer: Uma Krishnaswami
School Library Journal
Gr 9 Up—Nicholas Dane is a typically rebellious 14-year-old, but he is loyal to the bone to those he cares about. When his mother dies from an overdose, he is sent to the worst home for boys in Manchester, England. Once there, he is tormented, beaten, and battered continuously by his peers and the staff. The abuse lessens when he is befriended by Tony Creal, one of the heads of the Home. Unfortunately, Mr. Creal is a master manipulator and has a long history of sexually preying on his charges. During this time, efforts to find some family for the boy turn up a very wealthy uncle who knew nothing about Nicholas's mother's existence, much less Nick's. The man is willing to pay for his nephew's education, but is told that the boy is incapable of behaving or learning and would be most success if he stayed in the home. Torture starts up again, after Nick refuses to spend time with Tony. One day a friend from the old neighborhood appears in Nicholas's division and saves him on some level. After a failed attempt to escape, the two flee and get involved with shady characters, running various errands for them. During this time, Nicholas erratically visits his mother's best friend, telling her that he is doing fine. As Nicholas gets caught up in street life, he learns that his experience in the home was not an isolated one. Burgess is a genius in drawing readers into a compelling, dramatic, and candid read. He examines the dark underbelly of society and the powers that corrupt and exploit its youth, yet offers an ultimately positive and hopeful message. This book will stay with readers long after they put it down.—Patty Saidenberg, George Jackson Academy, New York City
Kirkus Reviews
Coming from England, this bleak, violent, slang-inflected street saga exposes the machinations of power and villainy in Manchester's social services and criminal underworld. The year is 1984, and 14-year-old Nicholas Dane loses his mother and only known relative to an unexpected heroin overdose. An ineffective social worker decides leaving Nick with his mother's close friend is not in the teen's best interest and sends him to Meadow Hill, a home for boys. Violence from both staff and other boys is vicious and near-constant, and the one seemingly compassionate figure there turns out to be a terrifying master manipulator who sexually abuses boys with impunity. Institutional cruelty, domestic violence and the horrors of addiction are depicted in graphic and occasionally prurient detail. The omniscient narrator incisively explicates how shame, fear, anger and desperation motivate horrific acts, and Nick's transformation from warmhearted troublemaker to angry, secretive street kid illustrates both the effects of deliberate mistreatment and the uselessness of government intervention. A small note of hope ends this gripping but harsh tale. (Historical fiction. 15 & up)
