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The Knife That Killed Me

by Anthony McGowan

Interest age: 13+
Reading age: 13+

Published by Definitions, 2008

  • Coming-of-age

About this book

Paul isn't one of the tough kids, but when he ends up delivering a message from Roth, the terrifying school bully, to the leader of the gang at a nearby school, he finds himself drawn into a dangerous rivalry. Paul attempts to distance himself from the feud, but when Roth hands him a knife, it makes him feel special and infuses him with a strange and frightening energy.

Anthony McGowan's original and thought-provoking novel, now adapted into a film, depicts a school governed by ineffectual teachers and rife with bullying and (sometimes graphic) violence. A compelling and disturbing portrait of the terrible consequences of peer pressure and teenage knife crime, it is a book that will stay with all those who read it.

About the author

Anthony McGowan was born in Manchester in 1965. He went to school in Leeds. He has an M.Phil in philosophy and a PhD on the history of the concept of beauty. He has worked as a nightclub bouncer, civil servant, and Open University tutor in philosophy. He now lives in London. He is married to the fashion designer and novelist Rebecca Campbell. They have two children.

His debut thriller, Stag Hunt, was published in 2005 and a sequel, Mortal Coil, came out in 2005. In the same year, Random House published Hellbent, his first novel for teenagers, and a second young-adult book, Henry Tumour, was published in 2006. Henry Tumour won the Book Trust Teenage prize, the 2007 Catalyst Award, and has been shortlisted for several major awards.

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