Kieran knows that words are powerful, but equally well, he knows how to handle bad words aimed at him. But everyone else seems intent on writing off the death as nothing more than a tragic accident that happened because the man had fallen in the water, too drunk to save himself.īut Kieran knows there’s more to the man’s death than that and he makes a promise to Colin, the man whose body he finds, that he’ll uncover the truth of his death, and as he says the words aloud, that means they’re a binding promise. Kieran notices things that other people don’t and when he finds the body of a homeless man in the river, he expects the police to take more of an interest in the case, as Kieran believes the man has been murdered. He has a book he writes things down in, and he keeps his precious notebook hidden inside a Beano album, away from the prying eyes of his stepbrother. They laugh at him and call him names, but he has his own coping strategies and is very good at putting them into effect. It’s not easy being Kieran Wood, age unspecified but in Year 9 at school. Yes, there’s a young narrator with some unspecified form of Asperger’s or autism, but Kim Slater’s first novel stands on its own two feet and will make a huge impact on anyone who reads it, be they the younger end of the teen market the book is aimed at, or an adult audience. And when there are dangerous secrets everywhere, not just outside, but under your own roof.Smart is invariably going to attract comparisons with The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, so let’s get that out of the way now and move on. When you're amazing at drawing but terrible at fitting in.
It's a good job Kieran's a master of observation, and knows all the detective tricks of the trade.īut being a detective is difficult when you're Kieran Woods. And to his grandma, who just stopped coming round one day. He's going to find out what really happened. He's made a promise, and when you say something out loud, that means you're going to do it, for real. It was only a homeless old man after all. There's been a murder, but the police don't care. He was a homeless man, but he still wanted to live.' 'I found Jean's friend dead in the river. Shortlisted for the Waterstones Children's Book Prize and longlisted for the 2015 Carnegie Medal, Kim Slater's outstanding debut, Smart, is moving and compelling novel with a loveable character at its heart. An evocative and compelling debut for fans of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time
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