Looking for JJ was number 2 on the UK BookTrust's list
of books for 12-14 year olds. This was a
fantastically written book but quite upsetting – I would want to know that the
teenager was robust enough before being happy with them reading this one.
On the other hand, maybe I had such a visceral reaction
to it because I was an adult…
The story revolves around a 17 year old girl who
committed a serious crime when she was 10.
She has been released from custody and given a new name.
You follow her thoughts about the original crime and
her life as it was then and then about how she is hounded by the press.
The book is unsentimental and doesn't draw
conclusions. But I got so mad at a
society where a child could be so neglected and mistreated by her mother… I am not saying it was all the mother's fault
– but I ended up disliking her intensely.
Sounds like a book that evinced a visceral reaction. I can see how there might be a value in telling such a story, but I'm not sure it is one I would want to read or to share with a teenager.
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