Item: Orangeboy
Rating: 5.00
Author: leahmichelle

by Patrice Lawrence

WINNER OF THE WATERSTONES CHILDREN'S BOOK PRIZE FOR OLDER READERS, SHORTLISTED FOR THE COSTA CHILDREN'S BOOK AWARD AND THE YA BOOK PRIZE

"A truly brilliant book." Malorie Blackman

"Incredible book. Thank you Patrice Lawrence for such a fresh and riveting piece of fiction." Ben Bailey Smith (Doc Brown)

"What a book! Such a gripping, gritty storyline, with such wonderful, believable characters. Loved it." Tanya Landman, author of Buffalo Soldier

Not cool enough, not clever enough, not street enough for anyone to notice me. I was the kid people looked straight through.

NOT ANY MORE. NOT SINCE MR ORANGE.

Sixteen-year-old Marlon has made his mum a promise - he'll never follow his big brother, Andre, down the wrong path. So far, it's been easy, but when a date ends in tragedy, Marlon finds himself hunted. They're after the mysterious Mr Orange, and they're going to use Marlon to get to him. Marlon's out of choices - can he become the person he never wanted to be, to protect everyone he loves?

I do not know where to start with my love for this book. I can't really write a coherent review, as this book is so far out of my wheelhouse - but it was incredible. Everyone raves about this book, and it really was truly amazing. This book moves at such an incredible pace that the 450 pages fly by, the plot never lags and the things Marlon did to help his family was both admirable, and pretty stupid. The thing is - until you're confronted with something, it's hard to know how you'd react and I can see why Marlon did everything he did - he felt there was no other options, and he had to protect his mum.

I can see why everyone says this book is incredible, that it should be read in schools because it truly was amazing. I whizzed through it, and it was pretty interesting to see Marlon go from being this kid, who knows nothing, really, to having to grow up really fast and deal with past things coming back to haunt him (things that weren't even him, really).

Orangeboy

by Patrice Lawrence

Reviewed by Leah on Aug 17, 2017

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