Coconut Unlimited

The debut novel from live literature stalwart Nikesh Shukla is a riotous hilarious take on The Inbetweeners and The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.

Three nerdy Asian kids, sick of being pigeon-holed as too Asian by their private school peers and not Asian enough by their families, take matters into their own hands and carve out a new identity for themselves as Coconut Unlimited, Harrow's most legendary rap crew. What follows is a warm, tender and consistently funny exploration of their attempts to record some rap tunes, meet girls and deal with the gritty grimy streets of Harrow when they come knocking.

Shukla deals with the themes of belonging and unbelonging, teenage obsession and racial politics with wit, charm and tenderness. Capers involving trying to source hip hop instrumentals, pulling girls through the inventive use of samosas and buying jeans in underground shops with your mum tagging along all bear the familiar thin sweat of the embarrassing teenage experience. There is never any ham-fisted polemically point-making. The book zips along with an energetic pace. I must admit I've never read any books in this tone by Asian authors, making me wonder whether Shukla has set himself the task of being the Asian Nick Hornby. Not a bad place to be.

Nikesh is Booktrust's web editor