Strange Boy - Tapa blanda

A debut children's novel by a highly successful writer for adults. As the lurid excesses of the 1970s give way to the neutral pastels of the 1980s, David is 10 years old, but growing up fast in a broken home in the North-east of England. This is a semi-autobiographical tale which is by turns funny and harrowing.

As the lurid excesses of the swirling 1970s give way to the neutral pastal shades of the early 1980s, David is ten years old but growing-up fast in a broken home in the north-east of England. Life for him and his brother is a constant whirl of interrogating parents, would-be step-families and over-bearing relatives. David lives with his mam, except at weekends when he sees his dad and his gran, who's always off impersonating Shirley Bassey down the working-men's clubs. The big women in his family talk to him like a grown-up, like he's one of the girls. They tell him he's bright, that he's sensitive, special. But such a strange boy...Afraid to trust his instincts and with his loyalties torn in two, David must face up to his childhood's end, his feuding family and his own burgeoning sexuality. And when everything around you is just take, take, take something's got to give...no matter who gets hurt in the process. Warm and funny, evocative and true, Paul Magrs' characters come so alive on the page you'll find yourself drawn into David's world with all defences down. It's a wild playground of messed-up lives and torn-up families and the strength of a secret, special love.