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Survival is at the heart of the criss-crossing stories in this powerful time slip novel set in Haiti. Shorty, fifteen and living in desperate poverty in Site Solay, is trapped in rubble after the collapse of everything he knows in the Haitian earthquake. Dreaming and hallucinating as hunger and thirst take a grip, Shorty relives his own life and also travels back to a previous violent period in Haitian history when Toussaint l’Ouverture, the visionary real slave turned revolutionary led a revolt against the French occupying forces gaining control and freedom for the Haitians. Both stories are stirring and Nick Lake keeps the tension taut while also allowing his characters enough room to be convincing and moving.
In darkness, I count my blessings like Manman taught me. One: I am alive. Two: there is no two. In the aftermath of the Haitian earthquake, a boy is trapped beneath the rubble of a ruined hospital, thirsty, terrified and alone. Shorty is a child of the slums, a teenage boy who has seen enough violence to last a lifetime, and who has been inexorably drawn into the world of the gangsters who rule Site Soley; men who dole out money with one hand and death with the other. But Shorty has a secret: a flame of revenge that blazes inside him and a burning wish to find the twin sister he lost seven years ago ...
A vivid and unforgettable voice ... incredibly moving The Times
Unputdownable Daily Mail
Gripping ... beautifully subtle New York Times
Both violent and subtle, unexpectedly reminding me of The Wire. Characters, settings, and the half-believed Haitian vodou religion are handled with patience and complexity ... A serious, nuanced, challenging novel. Trust me, there are plenty of young readers who hunger for exactly that Patrick Ness, Guardian
Remarkable ... Lake's elegant, restrained prose and distinct characters will reward adults and older teenagers able to brave a story with strong language, harrowing scenes of brutality and an almost painful stab of joy at the end Wall Street Journal
ISBN: 9781408819951
Publication date: 03/01/2013
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Format: Paperback
ISBN: 9781408824184
Publication date: 05/01/2012
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Format: Hardback
| ISBN: | 9781408819951 |
| Publication date: | 3rd January 2013 |
| Author: | Nick Lake |
| Publisher: | Bloomsbury Publishing PLC |
| Format: | Paperback |
| Pagination: | 352 pages |
| Genres: | NewGen - YA Fiction, eBook Favourites, |
| Collections: | 60+ Novels to Bring You Back to Nature, |
| Categories: | General fiction (Children's / Teenage), |
Nick Lake is 29 years old and a children's book editor at HarperCollins. He lives in London with his English teacher wife, Hannah. Nick Lake Q&A: Previous occupations:Student, and then book editor. Which I still am.Favourite job:Being a book editor. No one told me at school that there was a job where you got paid for being a fan of writers and writing. High school and/or college: I went to High School in Luxembourg, and I went to Oxford University after that for a degree and then a fairly pointless masters. In ...
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