The Carnegie Medal and Guardian Fiction Prize-winning classic YA novel reissued for a new generation. With an introduction by Malorie Blackman and all-new material exploring the book's controversial history.
It was a love story. Me, Gemma and junk. I thought it was going to last forever.
Tar loves Gemma, but Gemma doesn't want to be tied down. She wants to fly. But no one can fly forever. One day, finally, you have to come down. Melvin Burgess’ most ambitious and complex novel is a vivid depiction of a group of teenagers in the grip of addiction. Told from multiple viewpoints, Junk is a powerful, unflinching novel about the effects of drug abuse on teenagers. Once you take a hit, you will never be the same again.
'Everyone should read Junk' The Times
Publisher: Andersen Press Ltd
ISBN: 9781783448456
Number of pages: 352
Weight: 281 g
Dimensions: 198 x 129 x 21 mm
"Everyone should read Junk." - The Times
"Melvin Burgess's ground-breaking Junk remains the best book about teenagers and drugs to this day" - Julia Eccleshare, Guardian Online
"Junk has a perfect sense of time and place, characters who feel real and it may just be the best YA book ever." - Robert Muchamore, Big Issue, Top 5 Young Adult Books
"Occasionally a 'teenage novel' comes along which makes one reconsider the whole genre and its potential. Such a book is Melvin Burgess's Junk." - Robert Dunbar, Children's Books in Ireland
"Personally I prefer the love triangle in Melvin Burgess’s Junk, in which Tar’s devotion to heroin split he and Gemma apart." - Juno Dawson, Guardian
"This book is beguiling, layered and filled with a boldness that comes with youth." - Gemma Cairney
"Brilliantly and sensitively written, it encompasses the raw, savage and ecstatic world of the adolescent mind... a superbly crafted and important book" - TES
"Beautifully written" - The Times
"Believable and rivetingly readable. I couldn’t put it down." - Evening Standard
"Moving and provocative" - Observer
The best book on drug abuse i have ever read. It deals with the issue in a graphic and uncondescending manner yet still portrays the issue in a fair way. Expertly written and the characters are very well rounded.... More
Totally love this book!!! Although i despise the main character, Gemma, i gritted my teeth and got through it, so glad because it was really worth it. Absolutely put me off touching heroin and the best friend (Lily?)... More
This is one of the most moving books I have read. It really gives you an insight of what a teenager is going through and gives you a clear understanding of what drugs can do to you and how dangerous it is. A must to... More
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