THIS BOOK IS PUBLISHED AS SMACK IN THE USA.

Junk won the Carnegie Medal and the Guardian Children's fiction award in 1997. There were howls of protest from the right wing press - mainly the Daily Mail and a handful of local papers. It was on radio and TV, there were articles and cartoons and much breast beating about the loss of innocence in young people today and where on earth is children's fiction going. And yet it has been my most popular title and still sells like hot cakes, both here and in the USA. See below for more about the controversy surrounding JUNK.

 

Junk was a real experiment for me. What is usually called teenage fiction is really for people aged up to fourteen or so. Even then, people are supposed to buy few books. But what about those from fourteen up? That's the age group we really think of as teenagers. Of course at that age, people read adult books, but there are almost no books aimed directly at, or about, people in the middle and later years of High School and up. There are books for grandparents, babies, toddlers and grown-ups - why has this group been left alone? It's all the more odd when you think about how big the youth market is in film, music, computer games and so on.

It was an experiment that paid off. Junk was a bestseller, here and in many other countries. Translated into 28 different languages, adapted for TV and the stage, it has been my most successful book so far.

Despite all the controversy, I have personally received only good reports about the book. I've had any number of letters sent to me from readers, and there has not been one bad one. So why all the fuss in the first place? Could it be that the whole thing was just a media circus? I've come to the conclusion that in actual fact, the numbers of people who seriously think that young people 14 and up can't handle this sort of material are actual an odd minority holding an extreme opinion hardly shared by the rest of society. The press know a good story when they see one, but why do they have to present everything new as a controversial? In fact, in a world where drugs, drug culture and drug information is widely and available, Junk was simply very long overdue. Looking back, I'm amazed to realize that it was just about the first book to deal with the subject of drug culture for people at High School in a straightforward way.

There are so few books published that are truly for young adults. If you are aged sixteen or seventeen and you want to read fiction that talks about your life - your recreation, your sex life, your feelings and emotions - you're either stuck with stuff about twenty-somethings, or you're reading soft stuff that seems to be written for younger readers, or you're reading some polite, carefully edited stuff that doesn't dare talk about reality. Maybe that was why JUNK made such an impact.

About the book

Junk is set in Bristol, where I lived myself for eight years in the late seventies and eighties. The book falls into two halves - the first part, where the main characters, Tar and Gemma, leave home and move to Bristol, where they meet up with some squatters, and the second part, where Tar and Gemma become become addicted to heroin. The second part of the book is based loosely on people I knew at the time. I think that one of the main reasons for the book's success is the fact that is painted very much from life. The culture of inner city Bristol, the lifestyles of many of the characters, was something I lived myself. Tar and Gemma, Lily and Rob, come across as real people because they are based on real people, and their story rings true because it is true. All the events in the second half of the book are real. They didn't always happen to those particular characters in that particular way, but they did happen. I had nothing to invent.

 

HEADLINES - what they said about JUNK

WOULD YOU WANT THIS BOOK IN THE HOUSE FOR YOUR KIDS?

A book garlanded by an out-of-touch literary Mafia obsessed with low life, or a triumph for youth fiction that fills the void between the theory of drug culture and its awful reality? Sheena Hastings reads JUNK. - The Yorkshire Post 18th July 1997.

 

JUDGES TAKE A CHANCE ON ANTI-HEROES AND HEROIN

The Carnegie Medal judges have left the comfort zone behind this year in awarding one of the most prestigious prizes in children's literature to the book that gave the panel the most sleepless nights. - Times Educational Supplement, 18th July 1997.

 

Teachers outraged by librarians' choice

HEROIN ADDICTION, BRUTALITY AND PROSTITUTION: IT'S THE NEW CHILDREN'S BOOK PRIZE WINNER - Daily Mail, July 17th 1997.

 

CHILDREN'S AUTHOR RAILS AT YOUTH LITERATURE "CENSORS"

A leading children's author criticised the censorship of children's literature yesterday when he received a prize for a novel which deals with heroin addiction. - Guardian 17th July 1997

 

DEFINITELY NOT A LOAD OF JUNK

Children's author Melvin Burgess recently won the prestigious Carnegie Medal for his novel Junk. The decision was greeted with carefully orchestrated outrage because it is a book for adolescents which honestly and realistically depicts the lives of young drug users. - Socialist Worker, 2nd August 1997.

 

HEROIN NOVEL WINS CHILDREN'S BOOK PRIZE

Children's fiction took a controversial leap into adult realism yesterday when a novel about two teenagers' descent into a life of prostitution nad heroin addiction won the country's leading children's book prize. - Independent, 17th July 1997

 

READER' REACTIONS

I get a lot of email sent to me from reader's who have something to say about various books of mine, especially Junk. It's a shame to keep them to myself, so I've decided to post some up on the relevant pages on this site. I'm starting with this one from Catherine Noel, from France - the sort of thing that makes you feel it's all worth while - and I know that the people I used to base the story of Junk on would feel exactly the same way.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Many thanks Catherine - and your English is excellent!

This one is from Latoya - thanks Latoya!

It's because of you why I will start reading now! Thanks!

HOME BOOKS ARTICLES INFORMATION INTERVIEWS