30 Days of Books - Day 01

Righto. Lesley (or rather, Lesley's mum) found this marvellous meme on the internet, and I've decided to take a whack at it. I've seen this sort of thing floating around on various social networking sites, but had no idea they were called meme's. I do now. If anyone's interested in this particular meme, I can direct you to Lesley's blog, where you'll find not only her list, but also details for the full thread. (I don't know how to do the linky thing she has on the side ... sorry.)
I should also point out, I have every intention of seeing this through to Day 30, however I have absolutely no intention whatsoever of blogging about a book every day for 30 days, so knowing me, it might very well take me until Christmas to complete. Just so you know.

Day 01 - The Best Book You Read Last Year

I thought long and hard about which book would be a good'un to kick this off. To be honest, I haven't really had very much time for personal reading over the last year, because the reading lists for university take up a great chunk of my time. However, there was one book I had to read for a module that really stuck with me for a pretty long time after I'd finished it.

Junk by Melvin Burgess is a compelling, complicated and disturbing look at the effects of drug addiction and the drug culture in the UK. The general premise for the book is kids with some pretty serious parental issues who run away from home and end up living with squatters, ultimately ending up getting heavily involved with hard drugs. The story is told from various viewpoints, and Burgess lets each and every one have their own say. The characters are immensely rich and believeable, and I found myself from the very first chapter willing this story to have a happy ending. I find it easy to get sucked into a good book, to attach myself to the characters, and for pages upon pages I hoped and hoped that they'd be saved from their circumstances, their addiction, and ultimately themselves.

It's quite clear from very early on, however, that these characters are well beyond any help or intervention, and there is a lingering, inescapable sense of the inevitable as the narrative evolves.

 I don't want to go too deeply into the plot for fear of spoilers, but I'll just say this. When this book was first published in 1996, it was met with howls of protest from various journalists, parents, teachers, etc etc, with many fearing the content was too hard-hitting for it's target audience. But once they'd taken the time to read the book, to fully understand the point Burgess was trying to make, they realised that this book is empowering, encouraging  kids and adults alike to think for themselves rather than encouraging the use of hard drugs.

I found this book haunting - addictive and repulsive in equal measure. But more than that, I think this book is important. Kids need to know about the truth behind drug use, they need to know about the the good, the bad and the ugly in order for them to make up their own, informed decision about the topic. It's no good preaching about the dangers of drugs if they don't know all the facts. There will always be arguments about what is deemed 'appropriate' content for children and young adults in literature, but I whole-heartedly believe every teen should read this book, for the simple fact that it might one day save their life.