"A passionate, powerful exploration of a teen girl’s rage against an unfair world in which her abusively controlling stepdad calls all the shots."
Shortlisted for the Costa Children's Book Award 2019
Empathetic, insightful and buzzing with drama, the brilliant Jenny Downham has done it again in this vital, true-to-life treasure about a young woman’s struggle to stand up to her bully-boy stepfather.
“She threw things and slammed things and swore. She was clumsy and rude and had no friends. Her teachers thought her dim-witted. Her family despaired.” On the verge of turning sixteen, Lexi is a firework of frustration. Her furious outbursts are getting worse now John, her soon-to-be-stepdad, has taken over their family home, and his son – Lexi’s best friend (and long-time crush…) – has moved away to uni. On top of that, her younger half-sister is John’s favoured child, while she’s blamed for everything that goes wrong, including - most viciously of all - what happened to her beloved granddad. It’s no coincidence that the intensification of Lexi’s rage coincides with John’s increasingly coercive behaviour. Thanks to his constant criticism and angry desire to have everything exactly how he likes it, Lexi can see that her mum has become a shadow of herself. Trapped in this unbearable situation – one in which no one listens or believes her - what else can Lexi do but kick out?
Interwoven with fairy tale motifs that combine to create a satisfying whole at the novel’s heartrending climax, this is a brilliantly exacting exposé of coercive control and emotional abuse, and a powerful portrayal of a young woman’s refusal to give in. Lexy is a dazzlingly-created character that readers will root for and empathise with. Her battle to break the abuse elicits much compassion and sympathetic fury, while her irrepressible wit provokes plenty of laughs.
| Primary Genre | Young Adult Fiction |
| Other Genres: |
Shortlisted for the Costa Book AwardsNamed as one of the best books of 2019 by the Sunday Times, Financial Times and Irish Times.From the critically acclaimed author of Before I Die comes a remarkably affecting story of a girl who burns with anger for reasons she can't understand, and the power and risk that comes with making noise. Fans of E. Lockhart, Jennifer Niven, and Gayle Foreman will find their own fury in this exceptional novel for our times.
Lexi's angry. And it's getting worse.If only she could stop losing her temper and behave herself, her stepfather would accept her, her mom would love her like she used to, and her stepbrother would declare his crushing desire to spend the rest of his life with her. She wants these things so badly, she's determined to swallow her anger and make her family proud.But pushing fury down doesn't make it disappear. Instead, it simmers below the surface waiting to erupt . . . And there'll be fireworks when it does.From the bestselling and award-winning author of Before I Die, You Against Me, and Unbecoming comes a remarkably affecting story that explores the myriad of ways a girl's sense of self can be whittled away, and what might happen when she fights back.Furious Thing features in the following genres: Young Adult Fiction, Family Drama, Children’s, Teenage and Educational, Fiction, Romance / Relationship Stories
Furious Thing is available in Paperback, Hardback
Furious Thing was written by Jenny Downham and published by David Fickling Books an imprint of Scholastic Inc.
Furious Thing has 384 pages
