Boy A

A hard-hitting yet compelling novel examining what it means to be imprisoned as a child and released under a false identity. Boy A is one of two boys tried and convicted of the murder of another child. Although there are echoes of a trial here in the UK this isn’t in anyway an examination of that crime with much of the book concentrating on what happens next.Boy A chooses a new name, Jack Burridge, to preserve his anonymity which is part of the terms of his release and then with the help of his ‘uncle’ Terry who had been a member of staff at the home he was first sent to follow his conviction. One of the minimal number of people who know Jack’s true identity. Jack has a job but first he must learn what it is like to live in a world he last left as a child.The book skips backwards and forwards through the time periods from before Boy A met Boy B to after he left the adult prison with his new name. Each chapter starts with a letter of the alphabet starting with A is for Apple. A Bad Apple. All the way through to Z, which is for Zero in case you are wondering. Just finding the titles that match the content of each chapter must have been a challenge and the sparse language used with its short sentences is perfect for the subject matter. This book feels like a work of art as well as a captivating tale.Fortunately, given the tough subject matter, the torn sympathies as Boy A’s life is revealed through not just his own eyes, but later on, his father’s too, there are some humorous parts to the book too, most predictably when Jack meets a girl and the attraction is mutual, but most often it is bittersweet humour with a shared moment with a cellmate before his monotonous life rolls onwards.As we see the horrors Jack endured in prison it is almost odd that my sympathies were highest when he starts his new job and makes friends, and of course a girlfriend Michelle. It is here that it becomes apparent how hard it is to hide your entire life up to a point in your twenties. As Jack becomes close to those around him, his enormous secret puts a boundary up between them as he unwillingly hands out lies to cover the truth.But nor is this book just about Boy A, Terry and his life at the point where they overlap tells a different story, a fairly normal one of a broken marriage leading to a strained relationship with his own son as he also guards the truth and builds the lies of the life he hopes to see prove that rehabilitation is possible.The way the stories of Boy A, his parents, Boy B, Terry the psychologist along with Jack’s new friends and his girlfriend all intertwine, create a thought-provoking and compelling read. The book is just the right length the author resisting the urge to brow beat the reader and the ending perfectly pitched. A book to ponder over and in the end marvel at how in the right hands, such an emotive topic can be explored.

I wasn't really 'into' this.'Jack' has finally been released from prison after serving a sentence for a brutal crime when he was a child. He is given a new identity and taken far from his home town in order to start a new life.For me, this wasn't very well written and actually quite dull and slow-going. A decent enough concept for a story but not well executed. Glad to be finished.

I was torn with emotion whilst reading this book, I swung from loathing of the child that killed, to pity for that same child, a desperate sadness for the horrors that he had faced throughout his childhood. A shame that he had been so badly let down by parents, teachers and peers. I felt sympathy for him as an adult, willing him to succeed and thrive, but all the while feeling the impossibility of his situation.It of course brings to mind the two child killers of James Bulger, and is hard to forget the emotions that we all felt as a nation at the time, and now that those two children are now men, what are theirIves like, maybe we can extend some of the sympathy and forgiveness to them?

I think this may be the third read of this book and it never fails to entertain but also to challenge. Nobody is born bad any so called ‘monsters’ are created in some way by their experiences and society.

I watched the tv series some time ago and really enjoyed it. The author did an excellent job of making the characters really believable. I found myself feeling really sorry for Jack as he had gone through such a lot of heart break in his life. The ending just hung for me though and left me wondering what actually happened. But maybe that was the authors intention.

As described - no problems

Boy A was a character I didn’t want to warm to although I found myself worrying about Jack and hoping he would live a happy life. So disappointed he was discovered and sorry for his ending

An interesting account which provokes a range ofEmotions. The author challenges our beliefs and morals. I absolutely loved it.