Four sharply observed and cleverly linked short stories written in an easy to read style capture the complexities of life for Cal, Joe, Ben and Kate. Cal wants to stop being a good guy with top of the class grades. Joining Tully’s gang looks like but a way out but luckily Cal soon realises what a dead end it will be. Joe wants to show that he can be a winner unlike his looser Dad but are the risks really worth it? Ben thinks he can manage having two girls friends but ends up showing that he only thinks of himself and Kate has to face up to saying goodbye to her Dad who is dying. Real life action told with great understanding.
Four stories. Four people. Four lives. Cal - how far will he go to be part of Tully's gang? Joe - can he blag, cheat, and bluff his way to win the most important game of poker of his life? Ben - is this two timers luck about to run out? Kate - how will she cope with her father's illness? All brought together and changed forever by one book...An astonishingly original work, which stays with the reader long after they've turned the last page.
Keith Gray’s debut novel Creepers was published when he was only 24 and was shortlisted for the Guardian Children’s Fiction Prize. His subsequent books include Ostrich Boys, which was shortlisted for the Carnegie Medal as well as the Costa Children’s Book Award and has been adapted for the stage; The Last Soldier, which was shortlisted for the Scottish Teen Book Awards; and The Runner, which won the Smarties Silver Medal.
Keith lives with his family in Vienna, Austria, where he co-founded the writer development community Kulturverein: Sunday Writers’ Club.
