Monster in Our Midst

Stagwell village is under threat. Already the home of a nuclear power station, it has now been suggested as the site of a nuclear dump. The local community mount a vigorous protest campaign and Alan Page, despite the burden of public examinations, finds himself involved. Less convincingly, he is increasingly drawn to Kathy Wilson, a daring and passionate sixth-form campaigner, and this developing relationship is the least successful area of the book. However, the cool, matter-of-fact prose in which the story is told echoes ironically the blandly reassuring information given to residents by the PR team at the power station. This, combined with extracts from newspaper reports of the Chernobyl disaster and the garishly effective cover, make Woodford's novel a hard-hitting addition to a GCSE Wider Reading course. Possibilities for Dual Certification assignments proliferate - less cold-bloodedly, the calm and reasoned quality of the writing ensures that the reader gives this subject the serious consideration it merits.