Kidulthood

Reading this novella is like taking a trip to hell, in this cased located somewhere in the estate blocks in contemporary West London near the Harrow Road. Adapted from the controversial film of the same name that came out earlier this year, its mostly black cast threaten, insult, bully and sometimes maim anyone who remotely gets in their way, or is at least thought to do so. Girls offer sex for money, and corrupt uncles induct stupid nephews into lives of organised crime. The language used is monotonously obscene, fully justifying the warning about explicit content carried on the book’s front cover. Parents, teachers or any other characters in this story who might be on hand to suggest a better way of doing things are conspicuously absent. Valuable perhaps for getting a dialogue going with teenagers who may sometimes recognise elements of its grim plot within their own lives, this novel otherwise is nasty, brutish and mercifully short. NT