Born Scared

Born Scared

By Author / Illustrator

Kevin Brooks

Genre

Adventure

Age range(s)

11+

Publisher

Egmont UK Ltd

ISBN

9781405276191

Format

Paperback / softback

Published

08-09-2016

Synopsis

The much anticipated follow-up title from the multi-award winning author of The Bunker Diary, recipient of the 2014 Carnegie Medal for an outstanding book for young adults.


Elliot is terrified of almost everything.


From the moment he was born, his life has been governed by acute fear. The only thing that keeps his terrors in check are the pills that he takes every day.


It's Christmas Eve, there's a snowstorm and Elliot's medication is almost gone. His mum nips out to collect his prescription. She'll only be 10 minutes - but shen she doesn't come back, Elliot must face his fears and try to find her. She should only be 400 metres away. It might as well be 400 miles...


Born Scared joins the ranks of Jennifer Niven's All the Bright Places, Ned Vizzini's It's Kind of A Funny Story, and Jay Asher's Thirteen Reasons Why as an example of teen fiction offering a frank and intelligent portrait of mental illness.


Kevin Brooks was born in 1959.


His first novel, Martyn Pig, was shortlisted for a 2002 Carnegie Medal and won the 2003 Branford Boase Award. His second novel, Lucas, won the 2004 North East Book Award. In 2014 his novel The Bunker Diary was awarded the CILIP Carnegie Medal.


Kevin lives in North Yorkshire.

Reviews

Carol

Not my favourite by Kevin Brooks, but still pretty good. It is far less grim than Bunker Diary, and is tense and gripping. Elliot, who tells the story, has a severe anxiety disorder, hardly ever leaving the house. When his mother doesn't return on Christmas Eve, from going to collect his essential medication, Elliot is forced to go out in the snow to look for her. A subplot of two criminals in the village gradually converges with Elliot's story. He is forced to face his worst fears, and displays amazing courage. The novel is well plotted, with the storylines coming together, and several twists add to the tension. The reader feels drawn in to Elliot's world, and Brooks skilfully portrays his character's state of mind. The two criminals have several chapters of their own, which help to flesh them out a little, as characters who may be evil and unpleasant, but perhaps have things in their past that made them what they are. No excuses, but some sort of explanation. The way that Elliot's medication helps him cope, and the way he starts to feel as it wears off, is particularly well written. Short sentences and spiky words give a feeling of fear and a mind disintegrating, but eventually Elliot finds something else within him, as if his stronger self has been dulled by the pills. I'd be happy recommending this to school pupils at a younger age than I would some other titles by this author. 256 pages / Ages 12+ / Reviewed by Carol Williams, school librarian.

Suggested Reading Age 11+

 

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