Synopsis: En route to New York Aunt Gloria and son Salim, come to stay with Ted. Salim is a cool dude: so cool he disappears. He boards the London Eye and then simply doesn’t get off. Everyone is baffled but Ted and his sister Kat desperately follow a trail of clues across London. Time is running out but Ted, whose brain runs on its own unique operating system, works out what’s happened.

Review. Ted tells us the story. This is interesting because he doesn’t see the world in the same way as others. There are hints that he is on the autistic spectrum but cleverly he manages to enter into Salim’s thinking in order to solve the mystery. The narrative demands that we see things Ted’s way which means that we’re on a strange roller coaster of events with details maybe we wouldn’t normally notice. Salim shares something with Ted. He feels different too. His mixed race parentage means he’s called Paki boy at school and so he forms an intense friendship with Marcus, who understands as his mum comes from Bangladesh.

In an absorbing novel Siobhan Dowd explores what it is like to be different as a teenager and how escapism can lead to a dangerous reality. This book could support work in citizenship and perhaps would appeal particularly to boys in their early teens.

The Bisto Book of the Year Award 2008

2007-06-24