Boys Don't Cry

Name: William Joseph
Price range: $

by Malorie Blackman

Interest age: 14+
Reading age: 11+

Published by Corgi Children's, 2011

Coming-of-age
Love and romance

About this book

Dante is waiting for the postman. It's 'A' level results day and he has high hopes, but a knock on the door brings an old girlfriend and some news that will change his plans for good.

Written from the point of view of two teenaged brothers: Dante, who is looking forward to university and a successful career, unexpectedly finds himself faced with the demands of full time single parenthood, and Adam, who is happy to be gay and makes no secret of it, but ultimately suffers from the intolerance of those around him.

A hard-hitting novel dealing with some of the real issues facing teenagers. This is also a moving story about father-son relationships.

About the author

Malorie Blackman is acknowledged as one of today's most imaginative and convincing writers for young readers.

The novels in her Noughts & Crosses sequence have won several awards, including the Children's Book Award, and she has won many other awards for her books for the Random House list. Both Hacker and Thief! won the Young Telegraph/Gimme 5 Award – Malorie is the only author to have won this award twice – while Hacker also won the WH Smith Mind-Boggling Books Award in 1994.

Her work has appeared on screen, with Pig-Heart Boy, which was shortlisted for the Carnegie Medal, being adapted into a BAFTA-award-winning TV serial. Malorie has also written a number of titles for younger readers. In 2005, Malorie was honoured with the Eleanor Farjeon Award in recognition of her distinguished contribution to the world of children's books.

In 2008, she was then honoured with an OBE for her services to Children's Literature. She was the Waterstones Children's Laureate for 2013-2015.