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SHORTLISTED for the CILIP Carnegie Medal, WINNER of the UKLA

‘A masterpiece from beginning to end.’ Angie Thomas, author of The Hate U Give

AND THEN THERE WERE SHOTS
Everybody
ran,
ducked,
hid, tucked
themselves tight.

Pressed our lips to the
pavement and prayed
the boom, followed by
the buzz of a bullet,
didn’t meet us.

After Will’s brother is shot in a gang crime, he knows the next steps. Don’t cry. Don’t snitch. Get revenge. So he gets in the lift with Shawn’s gun, determined to follow The Rules. Only when the lift door opens, Buck walks in, Will’s friend who died years ago. And Dani, who was shot years before that. As more people from his past arrive, Will has to ask himself if he really knows what he’s doing.

This haunting, lyrical, powerful verse novel will blow you away.

‘A heartrending and convincing blank verse narrative.’ Sunday Times, BOOKS OF THE YEAR

‘Astonishing.’ Kirkus Reviews

‘A tour de force.’ Publishers Weekly

‘Will attract teenagers who don’t consider themselves ‘readers’.’ The Inis Reading Guide