Book Info

Children's Author 'Like-for-Like' recommendations

Synopsis

Being by Kevin Brooks

Sixteen-year-old Robert lies anaesthetized. A routine operation has just gone wrong. As Robert slowly wakes, he can hear, he can feel, but he can't scream. The operation isn't over. But life, as Robert knows it, is. Robert goes on the run, terrified and desperate for answers. But what if the answers are too terrifying to face?

---

Reviews

A subtle, spooky, headlong dash through the dark edges of romantic science fiction, a genre Kevin Brooks - with his usual delight in flouting convention - appears to have invented -- Meg Rosoff, Author Of How I Live Now Violently enjoyable
The Times
Original in its premise and captivating in its delivery. A gripping read Big Issue Sharp and precise ... a meditation on the nature of humanity
Sunday Times
An exciting on-the-run thriller ... you'll be gripped Flipside

---

About The Author

It was the publication of Martyn Pig that changed everything. After being turned down by a number of publishers, Kevin Brooks sent his manuscript to The Chicken House, who jumped on the chance to publish it. They released Martyn Pig in the spring of 2002. In the U.K, the book went on to be short-listed for the Carnegie Medal and win a Branford Boase Award for a first best novel. And in the United States, it was named a Publishers Weekly Flying Start and an ALA Book of the Year, among its many accolades.

One of Brooks' favorite genres is the detective novel, and this shows in his writing, "I think my awareness of plot comes from having read a lot of crime fiction. When Martyn Pig came out, the reviewers were saying things such as 'well plotted' novel. I found that surprising because I didn't have any idea that I could plot or structure a story. I do plan, but I'm not consciously aware that I'm building a plot that creates good suspense; it comes naturally because I've soaked myself in those sorts of plots."

Why did he decide to write for children? "There are not many differences, I don't think, between writing for children and writing for adults," Brooks says, "because children aren't that different from adults. But I would say the story is the main thing, with children. With adults you might use different styles and structures, perhaps indulge in fiddly niceties. Writing for children brings you down to basics."

More books by this author

Share this book

---

Share this book with other net users and your friends