From: Michael Thorn <achuka>
Date: Mon, 1 Jun 1998 21:08:27 +0100

First of all, I'm very pleased to have been invited to take part in this discussion. There is much to say about Melvin Burgess's 'Junk'/'Smack' (from now on I will refer to the book as 'Junk', as that is the title I am familiar with), with the so?lled 'outcry' surrounding its winning of the Carnegie award last summer, and with the UK's perception of teenage fiction in general. I have personal views about the book which are not entirely in line with the consensus, but I shall leave those till later. I know these discussions work best if posts are regular and brief. First of all the objective facts about the book's publication in the UK. 'Junk' is not a first novel. Burgess had written four or five novels beforehand, most originally published in hardback by the Andersen Press, a very interesting small-ish UK press, which publishes mainly picture books. Of the earlier books 'The Baby and Fly Pie' had gained most attention, 100 Best Books 1996 saying:
"This uncompromising thriller is set in a chillingly plausible future in which gangs of homeless and dispossessed youngsters roam the outskirts of cities, under the agle eye of surrogate 'mothers'...." But Burgess was not widely known, and I imagine, though I don't know for sure, that his books sold only modestly, (as most fiction for older children does).
'Junk' was published in hardback in 1996 (as I say, by the Andersen Press), but did not begin to gain any BIG attention until the Carnegie shortlist was announced, and newspapers got wind that it was a book about drugs. When it finally won the Carnegie in July 1997 there was (mainly the following day) a series of tabloid-type articles claiming that parents, teachers etc. were outraged by the content of the novel. The following references cite only some of the articles:
 DAILY MAIL JULY 17 1997; DT JULY 17 1997; GUARDIAN JULY 17 1997; TIMES JULY 17 1997; SCOTSMAN JULY 17 1997; BOOKSELLER JULY 18 1997; TES JULY 18 1997; IND JULY 19 1997; DT JULY 19 1997; TLS JULY 25 1997 p16 where DT stands for the Daily Telegraph, IND for The Independent, TES for Times Educational Supplement, and TLS for Times Literary Supplement.
(Many of these publications have websites, and the articles may still be online. I have cuttings and may quote from them in later posts.) An indication that the outcry was largely cooked up from the press came in subsequent reports (still in Summer 1997) that the novel was to be adopted in many secondary schools as part of their drugs?ucation programme. Significantly, by the time of the Carnegie win, 'Junk' had already appeared in paperback (published by Penguin as a Penguin, NOT as a Puffin their usual children's-books imprint), and poor old Andersen press got very little credit for being brave enough to publish the book in the first place. I think that's enough for Day1! Michael

ACHUKA Children's Books UK achuka at webplus.co.uk http://www.webplus.co.uk/~achuka
Received on Mon 01 Jun 1998 03:08:27 PM CDT