Wild East

Ashley Hickson-Lovence

Publisher: Penguin Random House Children's UK
Publication Date: 23/05/2024 ISBN: 9780241645444 Category:
Paperback / Softback

£8.99

Purchase a Mr B’s Sticker with your order.

Become the envy of all book lovers with your own Mr B’s sticker to show off where you do your shopping.

Quantity:

Description

Winner of the YA Diverse Book Award 2025, the Two Cities Book Award 2024, the Mal Peet Children’s Award 2024 and the East Anglian Book of the Year 2024, and nominated for the 2025 Carnegie Medal for Writing.

A soaring debut YA verse-novel by novelist, poet, and former secondary school teacher Ashley Hickson-Lovence. A perfect next read for fans of Jason Reynolds, Dean Atta and Manjeet Mann.

‘A book meant to be heard . . . It’s the fresh, “spoken word” style that makes Ronny’s story’ The Times

Pen in one hand, on my wrist, a ticking clock
I’ve got to make this work, just need a little luck . . .

When fourteen-year-old Ronny’s life is struck by tragedy, his mum decides it’s finally time they move out of East London.

In his new city, as a Black teenager in a mostly white school, Ronny feels like a complete outsider and struggles to balance keeping his head down with his ambition of becoming a rapper.

But when a local poet comes into class, Ronny discovers a world he’s never considered before. Rap is like spoken word, bars equal poetry – and maybe the combination of both could be the key to achieving his dreams?

Praise for Wild East:

‘A powerful story of resilience, friendship, discovery and growth’ Jeffrey Boakye, author of Kofi and the Rap Battle Summer

‘I loved Ronny’s kindness, vulnerability, empathy, tenacity and open-heartedness’ Patrice Lawrence, author of Orangeboy

‘Raw, moving, and so accessible. A powerful spoken-word style verse novel’ Rashmi Sirdeshpande, author of How To Be Extraordinary

‘Welcomes all types of readers . . . Hickson-Lovence has crafted a superb piece’ DD Armstrong, author of Ugly Dogs Don’t Cry

‘Heartfelt and up-to-the-minute . . . A reminder that even short lines can take you a long way’ The Sunday Times

‘This empowering verse novel announces the arrival of an exciting new talent in YA fiction’ Waterstones.com

Publisher Review

A powerful story of resilience, friendship, discovery and growth…Ashley has that rare ability to draw you in quietly and leave you feeling totally invested. I’m certain that if I had this when I was younger it would have changed my life, genuinely. * Jeffrey Boakye, author of Kofi and the Rap Battle Summer * A cocktail of prose, poetry and creative writing that welcomes all types of readers…Hickson-Lovence has crafted a superb piece. * DD Armstrong, author of Ugly Dogs Don’t Cry * An astonishing and emotional story…an amazing tale of self-reflection, acceptance, and achieving your greatest aspirations * screenrant.com *

Find this book on the following lists

Book experts at your service

What are you looking for?

A recommendation
Something specific
  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.
  • Mr B's Recommendation Station
  • Fill in the three questions below, along with your name and email address, and our book experts will be in touch soon with their personal recommendations

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.
  • I'm after something specific
  • Tell us about the book, author or subject you're looking for, along with your name and email address and our book experts will be in touch as soon as possible