Pigeon English

A warm debut novel about living and surviving on a South London housing estate.
Harrison (Harri) Opoku is the second best runner in the whole of Year 7 and similarly, he blitzes through situations and confusions about his new life in England with his warm and honest manner.

Having only just moved from Ghana with his Mum and older sister, Harri is learning about life on an estate, which in itself has enough politics and dangers to keep him busy.

When a young boy is killed, Harri and his friend, Dean, decide to investigate the murder. Fuelled by what they've seen on CSI, the two of them soon find their investigation touches everyone around them, including their friends, Harri's own sister, and the notorious Dell Farm Crew, who terrorise Harri's school and estate.

The narration is in itself 'pigeon English' - sometimes jarring, sometimes punctuated with the vocabulary of a teenage boy. Above all, it is always sincere and despite all of the violence and fear around him, Harri still remains innocent in some respects, whilst also escalating slowly into adulthood.