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Coram Boy

by Jamila Gavin

Interest age: 12+
Reading age: 12+

Published by Farshore, 2015

  • Classics
  • Historical

About this book

Coram Boy is the story of Toby, saved from an African ship as a child, and Aaron, the illegitimate son of the heir to a great estate. The two boys' lives are linked by the Coram Man, a shady figure who collects abandoned and unwanted children from across the country, supposedly to deliver them to a safe new life at the Coram Hospital in London. In reality, however, the unscrupulous man sells the unfortunate children into slavery, or 'disposes' of them if they are of no use to him. Soon, Toby and Aaron find themselves bound together in an epic journey, fraught with danger and excitement.

Rich with historical detail, this enthralling, moving and sometimes deeply distressing read provides an important and thought-provoking insight into 1750s society. Packing a powerful punch, it is a tense tale full of twists and turns, and was a deserving winner of the Whitbread Children's Book Award.

About the author

Jamila Gavin was born in Mussoorie, India, to an Indian father and an English mother. The family settled in England where Jamila completed her schooling, studied music, worked for the BBC and became a mother of two. She began writing to reflect the multicultural world in which she and her children lived.

Her first book, The Magic Orange Tree was published in 1979. Other publications include: Grandpa Chatterji (shortlisted for the Smarties Award and dramatised for Channel 4 schools TV); and The Wheel of Surya (1992 Guardian Children’s Fiction Award runner-up). Her novel for young adults, Coram Boy, was published to critical acclaim in 2000 and won the Children’s Whitbread Award. She has also published a collection of brand new fairy tales, Blackberry Blue. Jamila lives in Gloucestershire.

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