ISBN: 0380732238
Publisher: Harper Teen (1999)
293 p.
Publisher: Harper Teen (1999)
293 p.
Reading Level: Grades 9-12.
Summary:
This is a heart-wrenching account of two teens who run away from their families, one from abuse and one from boredom, and get enticed into a world of homelessness, drugs, theft, and prostitution. Tar and Gemma set out to make a life for themselves in Bristol, England, with the help of a tobacconist and a gang of anarchists. They soon meet Lily and Rob, two good-natured teens who draw Tar and Gemma into their life of drugs and despondency. With friends overdosing and jail time for drugs, nothing puts this group off their need for heroin. Although they ultimately realize that the heroin is controlling them and not the other way around, there is hope for Gemma and Tar once life-changes take place. Gemma must decide which road she will ultimately end up on, one of desolation or one of hope—and hope Tar comes along for the ride.
Critical Evaluation:
This book gives the reader a hard look at the life of a junkie. No one ever thinks that a single taste will do them in, but as Tar and Gemma find out, a little is all it takes. After all, this is a morality tale about the evils of heroin, so it realistically showcases how easy it can be to fall into drugs, homelessness, and prostitution.
It’s all right, Tar, try it. You don’t have to do it ever again if you don’t want to. But try it once. Try everything once. All that stuff you hear about one little hit and you’re a junkie for life is just stories, you know.” “Stories to scare the kids, stories to keep you in your place.” (p. 132).
The book is presented in the voice of each character, taking turns narrating throughout the chapters. This helps to keep the tone fresh and the story moving forward. Because the narrators take turns with their voices, the reader must read between the lines about what they actually mean. After all, Lily does not truly believe she is a good mother anymore than Skolly is as honorable as everyone believes him to be. Overall, all the characters must find their own journeys, and the reader is able to ride along with them over every bump of the road.
Reader’s Annotation: (teaser, 2 sent)
“It was a love story. Me, Gemma and junk. I thought it was going to last forever.” (p.281).
Come along on a ride of joy, love, pain, and loss of innocence and find out
what happens when two teens take their lives in their hands and almost lose them.
Author Biography:
Melvin Burgess was born on 25 April 1954, in Twickenham, Middlesex. At 21 years of age, he moved to Bristol and began writing short stories, radio plays, and children's fiction. His first published book, The Cry of the Wolf (1990), was shortlisted for the Carnegie Medal. When Junk (1996), entitled Smack in the United States, emerged, it gained critical recognition and a large following. The book won the Carnegie Medal and the Guardian Children's Fiction Prize. As Burgess has noted,
There are two schools of thought on this…Those who think young people need
to be protected and shielded from life, and those who think they should be enabled. If and when our children need to make decisions about things like drugs or sex, we’re not going to be there. They have to be equipped to make those decisions themselves. (Retrieved from http://www.savethechildren.org.uk/blogs/2011/02/melvin-burgess-wise-words-for-the-kids/).
Although he still is considered very controversial for Junk and his other books, he is widely regarded as a writer who both empathizes with teenagers and does not “write down” to them. These days, he is still writing heartfelt novels as well as blogging to help further the cause, No Child Born to Die, which is a group dedicated to saving children’s lives and human rights as well as helping them to fulfill their potential.
Genre: Realistic Fiction/ - Edgy fiction
Curriculum Ties:
This novel seems to be used as a thesis bases for drama examinations (A level) in England as well
as a study of how utilizing various narrators throughout the novel adds to the reading experience.
as a study of how utilizing various narrators throughout the novel adds to the reading experience.
Booktalking Ideas:
-Discuss if the teens, the ones at the booktalk, would have thought to run away, where would they would have gone and what the consequences might have been if they had been any of the characters.
- Discuss the characters of Lily, Rob, Tar, and Gemma and how their drug use affected their lives
and the lives of their children.
and the lives of their children.
- Discuss how the split narratives not only furthered the story, but also gave a deeper insight
into each character.
into each character.
- Discuss the meaning of the lyrics at the beginning of each chapter.
Read-Alikes:
-Cut
-Cut
Challenge Issue:
This books deals with the very realistic topic of drugs and runaway teenagers, along with the very real trials and tribulations they suffer—OD’ing, prostitution, and jail—and therefore might raise objections among by parents who want to keep their teens “innocent.” The best way to defeat that mode of thought is to explain that this book is not glorying drug use; instead, its realistic depiction will surely make teens think twice before throwing their lives away.
This books deals with the very realistic topic of drugs and runaway teenagers, along with the very real trials and tribulations they suffer—OD’ing, prostitution, and jail—and therefore might raise objections among by parents who want to keep their teens “innocent.” The best way to defeat that mode of thought is to explain that this book is not glorying drug use; instead, its realistic depiction will surely make teens think twice before throwing their lives away.
Reason to include in blog:
I read this book years ago, for I particularly enjoy YA novels that are part of the “realistic” genre and full of “gritty” material. Actually, I originally thought this was an adult book, but then I realized it was a superb, no-holds-barred account of drug use and its effects on teens. It also displays an environment that I thought might add a more international perspective to my blogs, for not too many of my chosen items are set in England.
References:
The British Council. (n.d.). Melvin Burgess. Retrieved from
Burgess, M. (1998). Smack. New York: Holt.
Junk (novel). (2011). In Wikipedia. Retrieved from
Save the Children. (n.d.). In Save the Children. Retrieved from
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