A stunning and contemporary new teenage novel from award-winning Anthony McGowan, winner of the Booktrust Teenage Prize.
Anthony McGowan is the Carnegie Medal 2020 winning author of Lark.
He is coming to kill me. Now would be a good time to run. I cannot run. I am too afraid to run.
Paul Varderman could be at any normal school - bullies, girls and annoying teachers are just a part of life. Unfortunately 'normal' doesn't apply when it comes to the school's most evil bully, Roth, a twisted and threatening thug with an agenda quite unlike anyone else. When Paul ends up delivering a message from Roth to the leader of a gang at a nearby school, it fuels a rivalry with immediate consequences. Paul attempts to distance himself from the feud, but when Roth hands him a knife it both empowers him and scares him at the same time . . .
This thought-provoking and original novel highlights the terrible consequences of peer pressure and violence, and casts a spotlight on the worrying rise in knife crime among teenagers.
Date: 2004-06-24
Anthony McGowan was born in Manchester. Educated at a Catholic comprehensive, he won't say that his characters' schooldays are exactly based on his own, but he certainly writes from experience. Before turning to writing full-time, Anthony gained a PhD in Philosophy, worked as a nightclub bouncer, an Open University tutor, a journalist and a civil servant. He is married with two children.
His first book, Hellbent, was shortlisted for the Branford Boase Award. He won the Teenage Booktrust Prize for Henry Tumour, which was also shortlisted for the Sheffield Children's Book Award, the Lancashire Children's Book of the Year Award, the Redbridge Teenage Book Award and the Catalyst Award. The Knife that Killed Me was nominated for the Carnegie Medal and the Guardian Children's Fiction Prize. Anthony is also the writer behind the Donut Diaries books.
Anthony McGowan is a multi-award-winning author of books for adults, teenagers and younger children. He has a life-long obsession with the natural world, and has travelled widely to study and observe it. He has also written feature articles and travel journalism for The Times, Guardian, Daily Telegraph, Evening Standard and Mail on Sunday.
