Winner of the 1996 carnegie medal in literature and the guardian prize for fiction, two of englands most prestigious awards, smack tells a penetrating, isbn 9780312608620 buy the smack ebook. In the novel smack by melvin burgess talks about two teens addicted to drugs. Denver post it does exactly what teenagers want a book to do. Its been translated into 28 different languages and adapted for the stage and television. Melvin burgess is the author of many novels for young adult and middlegrade readers. With smack, winner of the carnegie medal and the guardian prize for fiction, melvin burgess brilliantly sketches a gradual descent into drug addiction.
Melvin burgess, who tells the story from multiple points. Pdf junk book by melvin burgess free download 389 pages. May 15, 2016 twenty years ago teen books were for 12 yearolds, so melvin burgesss book about drug addiction caused waves of outrage and the ripples of shock are still felt today. Digital rights management drm the publisher has supplied this book in encrypted form, which means that you need to install free software in order to unlock and read it. Junk or smack by melvin burgess abebooks passion for books. There is no preaching here, just the artful revelation of cold, hard facts. It is a book about people, familiesreal and those constructed by young people with no one to turn to but each other. Among them are nicholas dane, doing it a new york public library book for the teen age, the ghost behind the wall bank street best childrens book of the year and smack winner of britains carnegie medal and the guardian prize for fiction, as well as an. And smack makes it relentlessly clear that fun comes at a vicious price. Jun 08, 2010 melvin burgess is the author of many novels for young adult and middlegrade readers. Junk puffin teenage fiction by melvin burgess and a great selection of related books, art and collectibles available now at. Jun 08, 2010 winner of the 1996 carnegie medal in literature and the guardian prize for fiction, two of englands most prestigious awards, smack tells a penetrating story about heroin use, a topic that is becoming familiar in the news and one of importance to teens everywhere. Melvin burgess booklist melvin burgess message board. His first book, the cry of the wolf, was published in 1990.
Burgess won the annual carnegie medal from the library association, recognising the years best childrens book. Pdf smack book by melvin burgess free download 293 pages. Tar and gemma run away from their homes for what they believe are valid reasons. The main characters of this fiction, young adult story are jerry, sal. Gemma follows him to escape an infuriatingly repressive to her, at least home. After running away from their troubled homes, two english teenagers move in with a group of squatters in the port city of bristol and try to find ways to support their growing addiction to heroin. The note on squatting also explains how its not illegal in the uk like it is in other countries. Carnegieprize winning author, melvin burgess, has written a longawaited new story.
Two teens escape their oppressive homes to live with anarchist squatters, only to become entrenched in heroin addiction and crime. By ryan arnold the style of smack presents the various chapters from the viewpoint of various characters throughout the novel. Melvin burgess was born in london and brought up in surrey and sussex. The title of this book is smack and it was written by melvin burgess. This acclaimed book by melvin burgess is available at in several formats for your ereader. Smack is the winner of the 1996 carnegie medal in literature. An overview and plot summary of smack by melvin burgess. Nov 14, 1996 junk is the drugs book against which i judge all drugs books, and so far nothings come close to matching melvin burgesss unflinching portrayal of bristols city road in the 1980s through a heroinaddled lens. For gilly authors note this book is set roughly in the early and middle 1980s, when i myself was living in bristol. Ala best books for young adults, guardian childrens fiction prize, books for the teen age, new. Set on the streets of bristol, england, it features two runaway teens who join a group of squatters, where they fall into heroin addiction and embrace anarchism. Smack has 4 available editions to buy at half price books marketplace. Download for offline reading, highlight, bookmark or take notes while you read smack. Buy this book this searing account of two young runaways.
This searing account of two young runaways descent into heroin addiction and their faltering climb back out won englands carnegie medal and guardian prize. Written directly for its audience of young people and unflinching in its honesty, smack is the teen book of the year. This particular method allows for each of the characters to become the primary character at some point in the novel. An interview with the young adult author melvin burgess on his book junk, the story of a group of teenagers addicted to heroin living in bristol. Digital rights management drm the publisher has supplied this book in encrypted form, which means that you need. Dear melvin burgess, hi, my name is lindsie and i just finished reading smack yesterday. It was published by square fish and has a total of 352 pages in the book. Handled with great sensitivity and engrossing narrative drive, it is an important addition to the understanding of how teenage lives.
Its been translated into 28 different languages and. He has had a variety of jobs before becoming a fulltime writer. Among them are nicholas dane, doing it a new york public library book for the teen age, the ghost behind the wall bank street best childrens book of the year and smack winner of britains carnegie medal and the guardian prize for fiction, as well as an ala best book. At 14, sweetnatured tar leaves his small seaside town for bristol to get away from his alcoholic, abusive parents.
Burgess has no time for either hushed, poetic contemplations on heroin or clumsy, moralistic incitements to just say no. In a carnegie medalwinning novel under the uk title, junk that cuts to the bone, burgess puts a group of teenage runaways through four nightmarish years of heroin addiction. Smack is a book about a drug and the hold it can have. Winner of the carnegie medal and the guardian prize for fiction, two of englands most prestigious awards, smack tells a penetrating story about heroin use, a topic that is becoming familiar in the news and one of importance to teens everywhere. Among them are nicholas dane, doing it a new york public library book for the teen age, the ghost behind the wall bank street best childrens book of the year and smack winner of britains carnegie medal and the guardian prize for fiction, as well as an ala best book for young adults. The book was published in multiple languages including english, consists of 389 pages and is available in paperback format. The book was published in multiple languages including english, consists of 293 pages and is available in paperback format. During the course of the four years the novel records, gemma and tar link up with drug addicts and participate in prostitution, petty thievery, and burglary in order to sustain their drug addiction. Melvin burgess is a british author of childrens fiction. Apr 09, 2020 open library is an initiative of the internet archive, a 501c3 nonprofit, building a digital library of internet sites and other cultural artifacts in digital form. We read the book to see how peer pressure affect teens.
Smack isbn 9780312608620 pdf epub melvin burgess ebook. The story begins with tar, a fourteenyearold, who runs away from home. However, once in the city, they become entangled in the abuse of heroin. Once they start doing smack, it becomes the center of their lives and therefore of the book. He gained a certain amount of notoriety in 1996 with the publication of junk, which was published in the shadow of the film of irvine welshs trainspotting, and dealt with the trendy and controversial idea of heroinaddicted. Gemma follows him to escape an infuriatingly repressive to her, at least home situation.
Winner of the 1996 carnegie medal in literature and the guardian prize for fiction, two of englands most prestigious awards, smack tells a. Melvin burgess born 25 april 1954 is a british writer of childrens fiction. The first edition of the novel was published in november 14th 1996, and was written by melvin burgess. Winner of the 1996 carnegie medal in literature and the guardian prize for fiction, two of englands most prestigious awards, smack tells a penetrating story about heroin use, a topic that is becoming familiar in the news and one of importance to teens everywhere.
Lily continues to use heroin throughout the duration mdlvin her pregnancy as well as when she is breastfeeding. Open library is an initiative of the internet archive, a 501c3 nonprofit, building a digital library of internet sites and other cultural artifacts in digital form. In britain, junk became one of the bestknown young adult books of the decade. Written over a decade ago, smackis the original cautionary tale about modern drug abuse. I got so lost in that book, really tied to the characters, all of them. Smack goes into other aspects of drug addictions that many other books dont deal with, like how there is a major focus on squatting, and at the end of the book there is a note on squatting. Twenty years ago teen books were for 12 yearolds, so melvin burgesss book about drug addiction caused waves of outrage and the ripples of shock are still felt today. What is usually called teenage fiction is really for people aged up to fourteen or so. Melvin burgess has 38 books on goodreads with 72608 ratings. He is the author of more than twenty books for young readers, including doing it, bloodtide, saras face, and kill all enemies.
Melvin burgess is the recipient of both the carnegie medal and the guardian childrens fiction award for his controversial bestseller junk smack in the us. The book portray the process of addiction, its degrading effects, and the difficult road to recovery. And truth be told, it really is an smack melvin burgess book. Junk is the drugs book against which i judge all drugs books, and so far nothings come close to matching melvin burgesss unflinching portrayal of bristols city road in the 1980s through a heroinaddled lens.
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