From Carnegie winning author, a coming-of-age novel about friendship and loyalty across neighbourhood lines – illustrated by award-winner, Akhran Girmay.<\/b><\/p>\n
A lot of the stuff that gives my neighbourhood a bad name, I don’t really mess with. The guns and drugs and all that, not really my thing.<\/i><\/p>\n
Nah, not his thing. Ali’s got enough going on, between school and boxing and helping out at home. His best friend Noodles, though. Now there’s a dude looking for trouble – and, somehow, it’s always Ali around to pick up the pieces. But, hey, a guy’s gotta look out for his boys, right? Besides, it’s all small potatoes; it’s not like anyone’s getting hurt.<\/p>\n
And then there’s Needles. Needles is Noodles’s brother. He’s got a syndrome, and gets these ticks and blurts out the wildest, craziest things. It’s cool, though: everyone on their street knows he doesn’t mean anything by it.<\/p>\n
Yeah, it’s cool . . . until Ali and Noodles and Needles find themselves somewhere they never expected to be . . . somewhere they never should’ve been – where the people aren’t so friendly, and even less forgiving.<\/p>\n
‘<\/b>A funny and rewarding read.’<\/b> Publisher’s Weekly, Starred Review<\/i>
‘F<\/i>iction with heart . . . unexpectedly gorgeous.’ <\/b>Booklist<\/i>
‘M<\/b>oving and thought-provoking . . . defies readers’ expectations.’<\/b> Kirkus<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Ali’s got enough going on, between school and boxing and helping out at home. His best friend Noodles, though. Now there’s a dude looking for trouble – and, somehow, it’s always Ali around to pick up the pieces. But, hey, a guy’s gotta look out for his boys, right? Besides, it’s all small potatoes; it’s not like anyone’s getting hurt. And then there’s Needles. Needles is Noodles’s brother. He’s got a syndrome, and gets these ticks and blurts out the wildest, craziest things. It’s cool, though: everyone on their street knows he doesn’t mean anything by it. Yeah, it’s cool – until Ali and Noodles and Needles find themselves somewhere they never expected to be, somewhere they never should’ve been – where the people aren’t so friendly, and even less forgiving.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":[],"product_brand":[],"product_cat":[296],"product_tag":[42,2214,1293],"class_list":["post-92477","product","type-product","status-publish","product_cat-young-adults","product_tag-family-home-stories-childrens-teenage","product_tag-personal-social-issues-disability-special-needs-childrens-teenage","product_tag-personal-social-issues-siblings-childrens-teenage","pa_book_author-reynolds-jason","pa_cover-paperback","pa_dewey-813-6-edition23","pa_edition-paperback-original","pa_imprint-faber-faber","pa_language-english","pa_pages-9272","pa_publisher-faber-faber","pa_readership-children-juvenile-code-j","first","onbackorder","taxable","shipping-taxable","purchasable","product-type-simple"],"yoast_head":"\n