Terror Kid

By Author / Illustrator

Benjamin Zephaniah

Genre

Adventure

Age range(s)

11+

Publisher

Hot Key Books

ISBN

9781471401770

Format

Paperback / softback

Published

28-08-2014

Synopsis

What is a terrorist? A shocking, moving and timely novel about the choices that shape us.Rico knows trouble. He knows the look of it and the sound of it. He also knows to stay away from it as best he can. Because if there's one thing his Romany background has taught him, it's that he will always be a suspect. Despite his efforts to stay on the right side of the law, Rico is angry and frustrated at the injustices he sees happening at home and around the world. He wants to do something - but what? When he is approached by Speech, a mysterious man who shares Rico's hacktivist interests, Rico is given the perfect opportunity to speak out. After all, what harm can a peaceful cyber protest do...?From the bestselling author of REFUGEE BOY comes a powerful novel about justice, trust and idealism gone wrong that will make you look again at your definition of a terrorist.

Reviews

Terror Kid is a book that looks with many issues in modern British society, particularly governmental - type ones. The story focuses on Rico Federico, a 15 year old from Birmingham with very strong political views on how government should deal with issues in today's society, such as NHS funding and work hours. When someone approaches him with an opportunity for making such a statement, he ends up being framed as a terrorist. The book involves several issues that are based on events or persistent issues from the last 5 or so years, and it does this well. I was engaged in the book from the start. The book also involves several moral or personal issues that can happen, and why these issues happen. Some may be able to relate to Rico or other characters in the book because of this. Personally, my main flaw that I found with the book is its length. This would have worked better as a maybe 400 page novel than a 200 page short read in my opinion. Not that that is too much wrong with the book in the first place. Overall, this is a book that is definitely worth your time. I enjoyed it, even though I might not have necessarily been able to relate to it too much. Give it a try, see how you feel.