Troublemakers

Catherine Barter

Shortlisted for the Waterstones Children's Book Prize 2018
Nominated for the CILIP Carnegie Medal 2018
Longlisted for the Branford Boase Award 2018

In three years I will be able to vote and I will still have less power than I did at the moment that I saw that email, which was such a tiny thing but look what happened.

Fifteen-year-old Alena never really knew her political activist mother, who died when she was a baby. She has grown up with her older half-brother Danny and his boyfriend Nick in the east end of London. Now the area is threatened by a bomber who has been leaving explosive devices in supermarkets. It is only a matter of time before a bomb goes off.
Against this increasingly fearful backdrop, Alena seeks to discover more about her past, while Danny takes a job working for a controversial politician. As her family life implodes, and the threat to Londoners mounts, Alena starts getting into trouble. Then she does something truly rebellious.

A searing, heartbreaking coming-of-age tale for fans of Lisa Williamson, Jenny Downham and Sarah Crossan.

Reviews

"A thought-provoking, richly layered YA novel about politics, love, grief and coming of age."
Imogen Russell Williams - Guardian

"Wonderfully individual and heartbreakingly real"
starred review - Kirkus

"A touching, truthful depiction of an unconventional family life... written before London’s current summer of discontent but captures the effect of a constant climate of unease on young people and the permanently anxious adults who care for them."
Geraldine Brennan - Observer

"A clever, thoughtful novel with a wonderfully realistic main character"
Sarah Webb - Irish Independent

"It’s refreshing to see a contemporary YA novel that focuses so much on family and politics and allows its heroine to escape the narrative without a boyfriend in tow"
Claire Hennessy - Irish Times