29 Locks

Product Information

Miles revisits the much-loved protagonist of 29 Miles two years after his canal boat adventure as a fifteen-year-old. I have appeared at the Hay Festival of Literature and Arts, Chichester Arts Festival and the Petworth Literary Week, and I am a frequent guest on BBC Radio London. But as each lock is navigated and conquered, their adventures take on a new dimension, and life will never be the same again. Some of the data that are collected include the number of visitors, their source, and the pages they visit anonymously.

I loved the scenes of Donny and Zoe escaping down the canal – it was especially engaging for me, as I lived in Herfordshire briefly, and I can picture that stretch of the canal so vividly. Difficult and complex issues are present on these pages, but the writing is so full of life and vivacity that you just glide along, keen to know how things will turn out for Donny, and rooting for him all the way. No, what 29 Locks has is the ability to knock the reader down and make them sorely wish you could help Donny escape what seems to be an inevitable conclusion - another teenage addict, a runner for some arrogant faceless monster who loves money and cares little about consequences, a name on a faded memorial. Chronicles his journey of born in poverty, being groomed by gangs, having a drug addicted mother, and his time in foster care.I gather that this book is getting a great reception among teenagers, and I can imagine that lots of young people will see themselves in Donny. However, I liked Donny and rooted for him, and would've liked to have seen more depth to his character development.

I really rooted for him to do well as he has had a hard childhood and I think he deserved some happiness in his life. His belief in his mother through everything is one of the really powerful messages in this book and kept me rooting for him. Growing up in dire poverty in Hackney, East London, his life is shaped by casual violence, gang initiation, drug-dealing and knife crime. Locks by Nicola Garrard is a Young Adult book which I was drawn to immediately with the bright cover and the synopsis. Publication dates are subject to change (although this is an extremely uncommon occurrence overall).Older, wiser and more confident, life is going well for the former gang member who’d escaped a brutal life of criminal exploitation. The _ga cookie, installed by Google Analytics, calculates visitor, session and campaign data and also keeps track of site usage for the site's analytics report.

It tells the story of Donny, who has grown up in a violent, cruel and brutal world of drugs and crime. Hotjar sets this cookie to know whether a user is included in the data sampling defined by the site's daily session limit. I’m a freelance teacher and adviser for Minority Matters, an educational charity supporting disadvantaged young people in Islington. But with his new family and life looking brighter it isn’t long before he’s exposed to grooming, drugs and gang life. HopeRoad’s founder, Rosemarie Hudson, said: ‘Nicola is a fantastic new talent, and I’m so proud that HopeRoad will be publishing her debut.But 29 Locks whilst fiction, is very much about life and you're immersed into the darkest parts of Hackney where drugs and crime are rife and children are destined to die if they didn't escape from their fate.

Donny is a great narrator – his voice feels so fresh and real and engaging that I refuse to believe he does not exist in real life. Hotjar sets this cookie to know whether a user is included in the data sampling defined by the site's pageview limit. Payments made using National Book Tokens are processed by National Book Tokens Ltd, and you can read their Terms and Conditions here. The story is told with compassion but also with great skill- you will want to read right until the last word.The different sections of Donny’s life keep the book fast-paced and attention-grabbing, while allowing for small moments of reflection which add depth and tenderness to the story. It's a very dark insight into a world that we all know exist, but often pretend not to see and for Donny it's a world he can't completely escape from even if he wants too, with a Mum whose addiction holds her hostage and caused him to be torn away from all he knows. Growing up in Hackney with his loving but troubled single mum, fifteen-year-old Donny’s life has been shaped by poverty, crime and casual violence, including grooming by a local gang.