"One lad’s schemes to save his family from the loan shark."
In Sonny Gilmour we have another classic Conaghan character who will steal your heart and live long in your memory.
There is nobody who can capture the authentic voice of young people growing up in a working-class community, quite like Brian Conaghan and this new novel is absolutely pitch perfect. Both the banter between family and friends and Sonny’s hilarious internal monologue, are unmistakeably authentic. It is another book that is obviously firmly grounded in his own lived experience growing up in Coatbridge, but it is even more of an Own Voices authentic read this time since our hero has Tourette’s, as does Brian. Sonny also dreams of being a stand-up comedian and of the gorgeous Carolina Swift but is mainly preoccupied with keeping his OCD and tics under control. This is difficult when there is so much in his life to make him anxious and not just the bully Archie Burns.
His dad has Long Covid, his mum is struggling to cope, and he has just discovered that she took a loan from the dreaded Chick Lennon and now their debts are spiralling out of control. His best pal, the true crime obsessed Jonah suggests they recruit the ‘ gorgeous brainbox’ Carolina Swift to make a get-rich-quick plan.
But when the plan is robbing Chick Lennon and paying him back with his own money and when subterfuge of any sort is impossible when Tourette’s makes you blurt out ‘ROB CHICK LENNON’ any time you are stressed, can disaster be far away?
Despite the obvious humour the underlying seriousness of the situation is never downplayed. These are very real contemporary issues vividly brought to life: poverty, food banks, Long Covid, Social Security injustices and how easily families can get sucked in by predatory loan sharks. It was refreshing to see a positive portrayal of school support for Sonny and how well he was able to relate to Mr Kalinski the school counsellor(aka Special K) and even more myth-bustingly delightful to discover Sonny is a Reading Ambassador!
Genuinely moving as well as funny, this is an absolute must have.
| Primary Genre | Young Adult Fiction |
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