Junk - Melvin Burgess

I'm not a huge book reader, but occasionally if I see a book that interests me or someone recommends a book to me, I might read it. 'Junk' by Melvin Burgess was published in April 1997. My mum had actually bought the book for herself soon after it was awarded the Guardian Fiction Award and the Carnegie Medal, I think she thought she should read about what teenagers get up to as, in 1997, I was fast appraoching my teenage years! 'Junk' is about two 14-year-old teenagers running away to Bristol where slowly but surely they become addicted to heroin. The action is set around the mid 80s but, as the author points out what happens in the story ...  Read the complete review

"Junk" by Melvin Burgess was published in 1997 and although I am not a avid reader of books I had had it recommended to me so I thought I'd read it. Soon after I'd read it I bought it and re-read it. Since then I've re-read it and re-read it some more. It is a very touching and gripping story of two 14 year olds who decided to run away to Bristol. The young boy, Tar, has good reason to run away, as his mother is an alcoholic who manipulates him into doing everything she should be doing as a mother and a father who beats him up because he does all these jobs for his mother. Whereas his girlfriend, Gemma, runs away because her parents won't ...  Read the complete review

This book won't change your life, it might make you think that you are lucky over the choices you have made to get where you are today and in some cases it might make you want to feel what these characters 'felt', but most of all this book will give you a couple of good evenings entertainment. The book is centralised around two main characters, and each chapter is written in the first person depending on whose viewpoint the author would like you to deal with at the time, I say is is centralised around two characters but there are chapters from other peoples perspectives, whether that be friends or someone whose life has been touched by the people involved. The ...  Read the complete review

Junk a Novel by Melvin Burgess- Was winner of the Guardian Fiction Awards and the Carnegie medal. It was first published by Anderson press Limited in 1996 and Penguin Books in 1997. The novel is sett in Bristol in the early to mid 1980s- the period when Burgess himself spent in Bristol. Some of the characters are seeded from real people Burgess encountered in his stay. The novel can well be described as a teen novel despite being enjoyable to those both younger and older than that age bracket. This is because the themes are particularly relevant to teenagers. These themes include- independence, parties, sex, heroine, prostitution and drug addiction. This ...  Read the complete review

I read quite a lot but never kiddies books. Tried getting on with the latest of the Harry Potter books, lightweight Dire Straits of books, gave the Lord of the Rings a go, great story but far too descriptive and although this is often in the childrens book section in the shop it could be argued that it is really a book for all ages anyway, so when whilst over at my mothers for Sunday roast I spotted Junk by Melvyn Burgess on the shelf I was rather sceptical as to how much I would enjoy it. The last books that I have enjoyed have been The Crow Road, Wasp Factory (both by Ian Bainks) Amsterdam (Ian McEwan) Bird Song (Seb Faulks) The opening chapter looks at the ...  Read the complete review