Crongton Knights

Name: William Joseph
Price range: $

by Alex Wheatle

Interest age: 13+
Reading age: 12+

Published by Atom, 2016

Coming-of-age

About this book

McKay's life on the South Crongton Estate is rough. His Mum has died, his Dad works all hours of the day to keep away the Bailiffs, and his brother is always out looking for trouble.

McKay never looks for trouble, but in one mad night he will come face to face with a friend's crazy Ex, the wrong guys from the wrong estate, and a vicious drug dealer with a very personal vendetta. All because he tried to help a girl in need.

Alex Wheatle continues to impress as an author for teenagers. Crongton Knights takes you on a rollercoaster of a story, and the dialogue is as funny and quick as ever from the Brixton Bard. No wonder this book won the Guardian Children Fiction's Prize 2016. Let's hope his journey into teen literature is a permanent one!

Winner of the Guardian Children's Fiction Prize in 2016.

About the author

Born in 1963 to Jamaican parents, Wheatle grew up in Brixton, South London. At 16 he was a founder member of the Crucial Rocker sound system; his DJ name was Yardman Irie. He wrote lyrics about everyday Brixton life. By 1980 Wheatle was living in a social services hostel in Brixton, South London, and he participated in the 1981 Brixton riots and aftermath. While serving his resulting sentence he read authors such as Chester Himes, Richard Wright, C. L. R. James and John Steinbeck. He claims that a Rastafarian was his cellmate, and he was the one who encouraged Wheatle to start reading books and care about his education.

He received the London Arts Board New Writers Award in 1999 for his debut novel Brixton Rock, which was later adapted for the stage and performed at the Young Vic in July 2010. Wheatle turned to writing for teenagers in 2015 with Liccle Bit the first of his South Crongton series of books.

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