Title: Boys Don’t Cry
Author: Malorie Blackman
Series: N/A
Published: 28 October 2010 by Doubleday Books
Length; 302 pages
Warnings: teenage pregnancy, violence, homophobia,
Other info: Malorie Blackman has also written a lot of other books like the Naughts and Crosses series, Thief and Pig Heart Boy.
Summary: You're about to receive your A-level results and then a future of university and journalism awaits. But the day they're due to arrive your old girlfriend Melanie turns up unexpectedly ...with a baby ...You assume Melanie's helping a friend, until she nips out to buy some essentials, leaving you literally holding the baby ...
Review: A lot happens in the first chapter. Dante is expecting the results of his A-levels, which of course will shape the rest of his life, and a past girlfriend Mel turns up with a baby. After a little while, Dante realises it’s his and that despite her promise, Mel won't be coming back. And there you have the premise for Boys Don't Cry. Under that as well is a ((17/8)) boy becoming close again with his father via nursing a baby and Adam, the gay younger brother fighting various emotions and homophobics.
It’s well written. The thing I like most about the writing is the fact that it gives across all the emotion and makes it easy to connect with the characters.
The characters are believable and all the characters motives were clear. The subplots all intertwined well together to make a good story overall.
The only bad thing about this is I don’t think it finished properly. A lot happens in the story (I won't tell, spoilers) but the when I finished the book I just thought Is that really the end? I know it was a logical place to end, but I just don't think it was wound down enough to be one of those books where everything’s tied up, and it wasn't wound up enough to be a good cliff-hanger leading to a sequel.
Like other books by Blackman, there are a lot of issues cropping up. Teenage pregnancy, single parenting, homosexuality, homophobia taken to the extreme, and so on. As always they're handled well and in such a way that makes you think about them for a fair bit of time afterwards.
Sorry this is so short, but there’s not much to say apart from the fact that it brings up issues very well and is as great as Blackman’s other books.
Overall: Strength 4 tea to a book that should be read by everyone and is just as brilliant as Blackman's other works, dealing with issues in a strong and believable way.
I bought this book the other week and I cant wait to get round to reading it! I'm glad you enjoyed it! :)
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