When life’s off track, put pen to paper and find your way back

Wild East

Written by: Ashley Hickson- Lovence @AHicksonLovence

Illustrated by: Camilla Wu @thecamru

Published by: Penguin @PenguinUKBooks

Published: May 2024

Price: £8.99

First line: A glance as sharp as a shard of broken glass.

Genre: Contemporary, Music, School

Age: 12+

Thanks to loveresding4kids for the review copy. A full review is available on their website.

What’s it all about? Ronny lives in East London, the dangerous part. When his best friend dies from being stabbed, his mum has had enough, so takes him to a new life in Norwich. Here he has to start a new school and try not to stand out too much, even though he dreams of being a rapper.

Why should I read it? Having never read a book written in verse (apart from Shakespeare I suppose and the amazing Highwayman) , this was a new experience for me, and I have to say, I wasn’t sure at first. But, in the end I found the verses were a bit like paragraphs and then that really helped me with the reading. Ronnie is such a great character: his feelings and thoughts are laid out naked on the page and are very realistic for someone of that age. The story follows his life through the course of the first year in his new school, and I was really inspired by hearing it. I like the reading list of new books that Ronnie is interested in, that Ashley leaves at the end of the book, so I will definitely be checking those out, but probably not his music selection…! His teachers spot his talent and build his confidence in his writing. He’s given special opportunities to succeed. Which may sound a little rose-tinted, but you hope this is what most schools are able to do. His best-friend Leigh, is a great supporting character and gives the story some bulk and some funny moments. The story arc has some nice twists and turns where you, the reader, are worried that Ronny might get sucked into a troublesome future. There are some really beautiful and poignant lines in the story. The interlinking themes throughout the story, of family, friendship, hope, despair, future, peace, success and failure and bravery would be wonderful talking points in a secondary school class and the multiple references to modern culture would really resonate with them.