The Edge

by Alan Gibbons

Overview

Winner of the Angus Book Award, THE EDGE is crackly with tension. How will this mother and son escape their abuser and start a new life?

We've got to go. Now.

It's early morning and Danny's mother is at his bedside, urging him to get up. They're on the run from Chris, his mother's boyfriend, a violent man who beats them both up, and won't let them go.

Chris pursues Danny and his mother from London to the north, where they take refuge with Danny's grandparents. But even there, nothing is safe. Danny is conspicuous as the only mixed-race boy in their small community, and with the ever-present threat of discovery, he has to learn how to live continually on the edge.

A tense and chilling story with terrific drama, THE EDGE shows the depth of character and the understanding of the predicaments of children today that gives Alan Gibbons his special quality.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781444003932
Publisher:	Hachette Children's Group
Publication date:	12/23/2010
Sold by:	Hachette Digital, Inc.
Format:	eBook
File size:	1 MB
Age Range:	12 - 18 Years

About the Author

Alan Gibbons is a full-time writer and a visiting speaker and lecturer at schools, colleges and literary events nationwide, including the major book festivals. He lives in Liverpool with his wife and has four grown up children. He travels globally and is known the length and breadth of the country for his high profile Campaign for the Book and school visits.

Visit his website at http://www.alangibbons.com, read his blog at http://alangibbons.net, follow him on Twitter at https://twitter.com/mygibbo, Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/alan.gibbons.35 and Flickr at http://www.flickr.com/people/71279646@N08.

Alan Gibbons is a full-time writer and a visiting speaker and lecturer at schools, colleges and literary events nationwide, including the major book festivals: Edinburgh, Northern Children's Book Festival, Swansea, Cheltenham, Sheffield and Salford. Alan is a key supporter of a high-profile, nationwide campaign to champion libraries and librarianship and to reevaluate government commitment to educational spending. He lives in Liverpool with his wife and four children. Alan is an honorary CILIP member.

Visit Alan's website at www.alangibbons.com, read his blog at alangibbons.net, follow him on Twitter @mygibbo, Facebook www.facebook.com/alan.gibbons.35 and Flickr www.flickr.com/people/71279646@N08.

Editorial Reviews

Gr 6-9-From the opening music clip that jangles the nerves, tension runs high in this audio version of the novel by British author Alan Gibbons. Jerome Pride offers a range of convincing British accents and speech patterns that enhance the story of teenage Danny and his mother as they make a frantic escape from Chris, his mother's live-in boyfriend who is a violent abuser. Having left urban London with its cosmopolitan mix, Danny encounters his first dramatic experience with racial and ethnic prejudice in his mother's more rural hometown where his racially mixed parentage is very much an issue both in his grandparents' home and his new school. Central characters alternate telling the story in separate chapters, and Pride does an exceptional job of providing each with a distinct voice. The word "edge" is a key one in this book, both for abusive Chris Kane's over the edge mental state and the edge of the local imposing cliff overshadowing this fast-paced, dramatic, and danger-filled story. As Kane stalks the two runaways and racist unrest threatens them as well, the disturbing story races on as seen through the eyes of all key players. Pride's additions of verbal tautness and drama will keep listeners on the edge of their seats, and the repetition of that jarring sound clip at the beginning and end of each CD side ratchets up the tension. Three minute tracks help those following along in the text. Public and school libraries serving teens will find this audiobook in demand.-Jane P. Fenn, Corning-Painted Post West High School, NY Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

School Library Journal

The Edge is both a place and a metaphor for Danny and his mother, Cathy’s, escape from London and her abusive boyfriend, Chris. They flee for their lives but are hunted. When they take refuge with Cathy’s parents, racism, jealousy, adolescent rage, and old family wounds find them, but so do courage and hope. The strength of Jerome Pride’s reading is his evenness of tone for all the characters. The story is told from several perspectives: Chris’s rage is palpable, Danny’s fear comes through in the wavering of his voice, and Cathy’s resolve is firm. The tension is exceptionally presented through Pride’s superb intonation. The only distraction in production quality is jarring music at the beginning and end of each side. L.D.H. © AudioFile 2005, Portland, Maine

AUG/SEP 05 - AudioFile