29 Locks

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Donny is an inspirational hero who seeks justice in the face of overwhelming obstacles – it’s impossible not to fall in love with him! It's a very dark insight into a world that we all know exist, but often pretend not to see and for Donny it's a world he can't completely escape from even if he wants too, with a Mum whose addiction holds her hostage and caused him to be torn away from all he knows. I loved how much the author covered in this story, from poverty and crime to grooming, diversity, and racism — all of which are prevalent in today’s society. But things go wrong around him and he's taken back into the system due to events that are out of his control. She has taught in secondary schools for twenty-three years, including fifteen in an Islington comprehensive.

I really rooted for him to do well as he has had a hard childhood and I think he deserved some happiness in his life.

Life in the rural Home Counties is a bit like landing on another planet but doing work experience on the Hertford Union Canal, Donny feels like he’s finally found his purpose.

In the 2nd part of the story, Donny finds himself far from the city and in a rural area where he forms an unlikely friendship with Zoe, a posh white girl. This is a gritty, harsh story of someone's life who hasn't had it easy and hasn't had the chances a lot of people have in their lives. But when Donny and his best friend Zoe plan a day trip to France ahead of their sixth form exams, Donny loses his passport and is arrested as an ‘illegal’ migrant.Yet there are moments of humour too, as Donny and his new friends navigate countless dangers in an attempt to build a brighter future. I missed him when I finished reading 29 Locks, and I think that’s the best compliment I can pay a character! Fifteen-year-old Donald Leroy Samson is the son of an absentee St Lucian father and a drug-addicted English mother.

This is committed fiction, but the heavy lifting is done by exciting storytelling and compelling characters, not preaching.It was chosen by Suzi Feay, books editor of The Financial Times, as one of the ‘Best Books of 2021’ It is also on the longlist for the prestigious Branford Boase Award for outstanding first-time novelists. Donny is a great narrator – his voice feels fresh and real and engaging, and he is another character, like Aoife in Iron Annie, that I refuse to believe does not exist in real life. A story that is narrated in first person, which I prefer as you get to know the character and Donny is a lad that I warmed to immediately on his and Zoe's journey of the 29 locks. As someone who is interested in urban change and once really enjoyed a canal boating holiday this book instantly intrigued me. Donny's fate as I say, seems sealed and he's to be either an addict or responsible for others no matter what he does.

But it is Donny's work experience with canals and helping out Andrew the gatekeeper of the lock gates who truly changes the lost boy into being the strong and determined young man he becomes. I loved the scenes of Donny and Zoe escaping down the canal – it was especially engaging for me, as I lived in Hertfordshire briefly, and I can picture that stretch of the canal so vividly.Payments made using National Book Tokens are processed by National Book Tokens Ltd, and you can read their Terms and Conditions here. The final section of the book sees them both borrowing Andrew’s canal boat after Donny is placed on work experience with him. When Donny is taken from London finally and to Hertfordshire, he feels out of his depth and is taunted by his classmates who judge him by both how he looks and where he comes from. The book is full of rich descriptions, fantastic characters, and hard hitting reality, mix all that with Donny’s first person narrative and you have the recipe for a fantastic debut. I was a runner up in the Poetry Book Society poetry competition, judged by one of my heroes, Carol Ann Duffy.