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Synopsis

Grass by Cathy Macphail

It would have been hard to have missed what was written on the wall. Painted in giant whitewashed letters: 'SHARKEY IS A GRASS'. I hadn't a clue who Sharkey was, but I knew one thing.

'Sharkey's a dead man,' I said. Leo knows the value of never grassing and that you never grass on your friends. Everybody, too, knows the gang leaders in town.

And you don't grass on them. Not unless you don't value your life - like Sharkey. And then Leo is unlucky enough to witness the murder of one gang leader by another, a man called Armour.

Leo is petrified as he realises what he is witnessing and even more petrified when he realises that Armour has seen him. Sure that he is drawing his own last breath, Leo silently says goodbye to his family and everybody he knows. But all Armour does is wink at Leo, very slowly, and leave the scene of the crime.

Leo draws a long breath of relief. He has got away with it. But he hasn't - not really.

Leo will live to regret that wink and realise that Armour has an insidious hold on him and his family,which will test his family relationships, and his very sense of what is right and wrong. It will take bravery, luck and sheer daring to extricate himself from Armour's deadly web.

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Reviews

'Young adult fiction is going from strength to strength, led by authors like Cathy MacPhail'
The Bookseller
'Cathy MacPhail's novels are tuned to how teenagers talk and behave'
Times Educational Supplement
'Macphail handles her gritty material - particularly the machinations of gangland - with skill, her sense of setting is well sustained and she gives us a novel which satisfyingly blends crime and thriller genres'
Books for Keeps
'Gritty and convincing throughout, Grass conveys with chilling accuracy the power of gang leaders over local communities ... This is a book with real bite and an uplifting ending'
The Bookseller

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About The Author

Scottish author Cathy McPhail won the Kathleen Fidler Award with her novel Run Zan Run, the Scottish Arts Council Award with her second novel, Fighting Back, a Royal Mail award and the 2010 Explore Award for Roxy's Baby and the 2010 Stockport Award and Royal Mail Award for Grass. Cathy's work is enormously popular with young teenagers, her trademarks being pacy and topical storylines. Cathy lives in Greenock, Scotland.

Cathy wrote Run Zan Ran after her daughter Katie was bullied at school. Cathy now loves writing for children. Asked what she'd do if she wasn't a writer, she says: "If I wasn't paid to write, I'd still write books. What do I do in my spare time? I write. What is my hobby? Writing. I just love it. So, what would I be if I wasn't a writer? Bored stiff."

Cathy is the author of the heart-stopping and highly original crime thrillers Nemesis Boys. Reluctant readers in particular will be drawn to the whole package – the dramatic cover look, the short time frame in which all four thrillers are set, the short, pacy chapters, the cliff hangers and the dynamic, independent, resourceful boy hero.

Nemesis is the junior Bourne Identity so parents who are fans of Robert Ludlum’s writing will appreciate just how good and suitable the Nemesis quartet is for their late tween and teen offspring.

There are bookmarks and posters to download from Cathy's website - click on the link on the right hand side.

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