This Boy I Hardly Know

Award winning YA novelist Lisa Heathfield’s body of work captures the plight of young people abused by authority, trapped by rules and yearning to break free and express their individuality. With titles like Paper Butterflies voicing vulnerability and heartbreak, her latest novel is no exception. Informed by her experiences as a teacher working with young people with mental health challenges, it’s a wonderfully tender and insightful read.

This Boy I Hardly Know crackles with energy and vibrancy from the start. Teens Dusty and Cooper run away from adverse circumstances with a sense of purpose and self-determination. Drawn to each other like magnets they embark on an exhilarating quest to find who was taken from them. Their journey across the north of England is fraught with peril and heart stopping moments as they make impulsive, life-threatening choices. It’s also a love song to the beauty of landscape, iconic sights like the Angel of the North and shared experiences through the power of art, music, and poetry.

Heathfield assembles a diverse cast of characters, balancing darkness and light. She captures the problems, dangers and heartache encountered by children in care juxtaposed with the frustrations of social workers hampered by an unsympathetic system. Weaving in references to The Hunger Games and the haunting poetry of T.S Eliot, the book is a gritty and compelling portrayal of vulnerable, resilient and spirited young adults. In her author’s note Heathfield describes her hope that her words will “make children in care who’ve survived complex and painful early years feel seen, let them know how valuable they are” and empower them to realise that “they have every right for their light to shine.”  With all-consuming passion and self-belief burning at its centre, Dusty and Cooper’s story will appeal to fans of Mel Darbon. Emotive, empathetic and thought provoking, This Boy I Hardly Know will steal readers’ hearts just like Rosie Loves Jack.