Annie has always felt an outsider in her English school - from Norway, she's different, and is teased about her 'funny accent'. When Annie's classmate, Grant, commits suicide, Annie feels compelled to find out why. What she finds out is shocking - and makes Annie realize she and Grant had more in common than she thought. At the same time, Annie's work experience placement takes her to an old people's home, where she encounters a very old soldier, still shell-shocked from the First World War. His story locks together with Grant's and together they help Annie put together the pieces of her own personal jigsaw.

 

 

There are 128 pages in this book.

It is aimed at Young Adult readers. The term Young Adult (YA) is used for books which have the following characteristics: (1) aimed at ages 12-18 years, US grades 7-12, UK school years 8-15, (2) around 50-75k words long, (3) main character is aged 12-18 years, (4) topics include self-reflection, internal conflict vs external, analyzing life and its meaning, (5) point of view is often in the first person, and (6) swearing, violence, romance and sexuality are allowed.

This book was published in 2002 by Oxford University Press .

Carol Hedges is an A level tutor, and in her spare time works as a dinner lady at her local primary school. She lives in Hertfordshire.