Home Girl
by Alex Wheatle
Publication Date: Sep 03, 2019
List Price: $14.95
Format: Paperback, 288 pages
Classification: Fiction
Target Age Group: Young Adult
ISBN13: 9781617757532
Imprint: Black Sheep
Publisher: Akashic Books
Parent Company: Akashic Books
"With a tough exterior and brash attitude, Naomi is an authentic character in an unfortunate yet accurate picture of modern-day foster care in the UK…The ending is neither predictable nor sugarcoated, leaving readers rooting for this determined heroine."
—School Library Journal
"Wheatle returns to the world of his award-winning Crongton books with what Atom is calling his most powerful and personal novel yet. Naomi Brisset is a teenage girl growing up too fast in the UK care system. Her journey through a series of foster homes exposes the unsettling, often heartwrenching truth of this life. Yet despite the grit, Wheatle’s writing is as rich and warm as ever, bringing courage and hope to an unforgettable heroine’s story."
—Bookseller (UK), Editors’ Choice
"Teenager Naomi, old before her time and as vulnerable as she is fierce, is growing up in the care system. Foster homes and pupil referral units revealing the unsettling, often bewildering reality of this existence. Wheatle’s empathy, authentic characters, and rich dialogue illuminate the dark."
—Observer Magazine (UK)
"Another powerful and poignant novel deftly created by one of the most prolific master novelists on either side of the pond. Home Girl is a page-turner, with not a dull moment. Loved it from the rooter to the tooter."
—Eric Jerome Dickey, New York Times best-selling author of Before We Were Wicked
"Alex Wheatle’s latest novel offers no unrealistic fairy tale happy ending. But the award-winning writer, who draws on his own experiences of a childhood in care, does offer some hope for Naomi, a sometimes difficult but very likeable heroine."
—Irish News, Children’s Book of the Week
Included in Publishers Weekly’s Fall 2019 Children’s Sneak Previews
"Alex Wheatle is the real deal; he writes with heart and authenticity, books that make you laugh and worry and cry and hold your breath. It’s a pity there’s only one of him."
—Kit de Waal, author of My Name Is Leon
"I love Alex Wheatle and all he stands for in the world of literature."
—Kerry Hudson, author of Thirst
"Alex Wheatle is a one of our foremost literary activists, giving voice to the black working-class experience with unsurpassed clarity and compassion. For this alone he should be universally considered a national treasure."
—Stephen Kelman, author of Pigeon English
"Alex Wheatle is an inspirer. He sheds light in dark places so that we might see the unseen and hear the unheard. He is a vital writer. He is a prince among men. Long may he reign."
—Lemn Sissay, author of Gold from the Stone
"A major voice in British children’s literature."
—S.F. Said, author of Varjak Paw
This isn’t my home. Haven’t had a proper home since…This is just somewhere I’ll be resting my bones for a week and maybe a bit. This time next year you’ll forget who I am. I haven’t got a diddly where I’ll be by then. But I’m used to it.
New from the best-selling black British author Alex Wheatle, Home Girl is the story of Naomi, a teenage girl growing up fast in the foster care system. It is a wholly modern story which sheds a much-needed light on what can be an unsettling life—and the consequences that follow when children are treated like pawns on a family chessboard.
Home Girl is fast-paced and funny, tender, tragic, and full of courage—just like Naomi. It is Alex Wheatle’s most moving and personal novel to date.
Books similiar to Home Girl may be found in the categories below:
- Young Adult Fiction / Family / Blended Families
- Young Adult Fiction / Family / Orphans & Foster Homes
- Young Adult Fiction / Girls & Women
- Young Adult Fiction / Literary