| Junk | |
|---|---|
 First edition cover |
|
| Author | Melvin Burgess |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Genre(s) | Teen |
| Publisher | Andersen Press |
| Publication date | 14 November 1996 |
| Media type | Print (Hardback & Paperback) |
| Pages | 288 pp (first edition, hardback) |
| ISBN | ISBN 0-86264-632-4 (first edition, hardback) |
| OCLC Number | 37873825 |
| LC Classification | PZ7.B9166 Ju 1996 |
Junk (released as Smack in America) is a 1996 Carnegie Medal- and Guardian Award-winning novel by Melvin Burgess. The book is about the experiences of a group of teenagers who fall into heroin addiction and who embrace anarchism on the streets of Bristol, England. It is both critically and commercially the best received of all Burgess' novels.
Contents |
Plot introduction
Tar loves Gemma, but Gemma doesn't want to be tied down—not to anyone or anything. Gemma wants to fly. But no one can fly forever. One day, somehow, finally, you have to come down. After the pair runaway, In Bristol they are offered shelter in a squat. They meet two heroin addicts and are themselves soon hooked, while Gemma is forced into prostitution to pay for the drug. The two decide to kick their heroin habit, but it doesn't work out as expected. They are soon just trying to hold on to their lives and grasp something real.
Characters in "Junk"
- David "Tar" Lawson – protagonist.
- Gemma Brogan – a rebellious 14-year-old, Tar's girlfriend, who runs away with him
- Skolly – tobacconist who takes a liking to Tar in Bristol.
- Richard – a slightly unusual anarchist who takes Tar in.
- Vonny – motherly anarchist figure who lives with Richard and Jerry.
- Jerry – boyfriend of Vonny lives with Richard and Vonny
- Lily – 16 year old junkie who takes a liking to Gemma.
- Rob – scruffy (16 year old) boyfriend of Lily.
- Sal - one of the junkies friends of Lily and Rob
- Mr & Mrs Brogan - Gemma's parents.
The novel is told in the first person from various points of view; much of the narration is by Gemma and Tar, and takes place over the course of a few years in their lives. Tar, the subject of physical abuse at the hands of his father, is forced to run away from home. Joining him is his hedonistic girlfriend Gemma, who is the catalyst that leads this shy boy down his path of destruction, taking herself along as well. They 'elope' to Bristol, where they end up in a squat with mentors Richard and Vonny. When Gemma meets waifish druggie Lily she is fascinated by her and her exotic and dangerous life; soon she and Tar are living with Lily and a group of friends. The novel plots trajectory of their involvement with drugs: addiction, attempts to get sober, relapses, prostitution, and prisons. The entire crew of misfits try their best to survive and continue living by squatting.
Awards and nominations
The book won the 1996 Carnegie Medal. In 2007 it was selected by judges of the CILIP Carnegie Medal for children's literature as one of the ten most important children's novels of the past 70 years.
Film, TV or theatrical adaptations
This novel has been adapted for the theatre by John Retallack (published by Methuen ISBN 0-413-73840-X).
It was made into a TV drama in 1999 as part of the BBC's Scene series for teenagers.
It has also been revised as of 2003 with the new title of Smack.
Since 1991 a CG project called Junk has been in development by Warner Bros.
External links
- Junk at the Internet Movie Database
| Awards | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Northern Lights |
Carnegie Medal recipient 1996 |
Succeeded by River Boy |
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