book cover

Eight Pieces of Silva

by Patrice Lawrence

Interest age: 12 to 14
Reading age: 12+

Published by Hodder, 2020

  • Coming-of-age
  • Love and romance
  • Thriller

About this book

When Becks' mum and her stepdad Justin go on their honeymoon to Japan, they leave Justin's older daughter, 18-year-old Silva, in charge - but she never comes home after seeing them off at the airport.

Becks starts off cross, then rapidly becomes deeply worried, but she doesn't want to ruin her mum and Justin's honeymoon, so she decides to try and sort it out herself. Silva is a very private person whom Becks barely knows these days, and she's not supposed to go into her bedroom. But what choice does she have, especially when it's obvious that her cat Azog has gone in there and made a stinky mess!

Becks finds eight pieces of evidence in Silva's room that lead her on a mysterious journey to finding out about Silva's very complicated and secret life.

This is a brilliant read for a teenager, and Becks is a great heroine. The dialogue rings so true and the book is about so much: friendship, being a gay girl, living in a mixed heritage family, K-pop, the return of absent fathers, how complicated life is and, in a thread running through the story, the sinister danger of toxic relationships.

It's refreshing to see Becks' own sexual orientation as normal life, with her crushes and romances sweet, uncomplicated and secondary to the main plot. The weaving in of Silva's letters to Becks makes for a thrilling pace as the reader sometimes knows more than the narrator.

A really fantastic book with no easy answers and a slightly chilling ending that leaves you salivating for more.

About the author

Patrice Lawrence was born in Brighton and brought up in an Italian and Trinidadian household. Her first book for young adults, Orangeboy, was shortlisted for the Costa Children’s Book Award and won the Bookseller YA Prize and Waterstone’s Prize for Older Children's Fiction. Indigo Donut, her second book for teenagers, won the Crimefest YA Prize. Both books have been nominated for the Carnegie Medal. Patrice worked for more than 20 years for charities supporting equality and social justice. These themes (along with a serious amount of music) inform her stories. Patrice still lives in Brighton.

She is our current Writer in Residence.

Watch our interview with Patrice Lawrence

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