Shortlisted for The Other Award, UK

Shortlisted for the Observer Teenage Fiction Prize, UK

Shortlisted for the Guardian Children’s Fiction Award, UK

Children’s Book Foundation Children’s Book of the Year, UK

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lutterworth Press, UK

Heinemann New Windmill, Australia

Heinemann New Windmill, UK

Hodder, Australia

Hodder, UK

Hachette, France

Forum, Denmark

Kinderbuchverlag, Germany

Gyldendal (cassette), Norway

 

Sarah and her younger brother Joe live a quiet life with their dad and play out with Everton and their other neighbours, until one day their street erupts with emotion and violence – threatening the relationships of all who live there. Shots is an unforgettable, fast-moving and brilliant story.

 

Nigel Gray performs that most difficult of feats: he describes the impact of violent emotion with considerable intensity while neither glamorising nor minimizing its effect. Shots is a tightly-written and convincing story. It is a novel for our times. Times Educational Supplement

 

I would thoroughly recommend this book. It is fast-moving and well-written. East Anglian Daily Times

 

An excellent story. The Book Exchange

 

The story is exciting, saying many of the things that ought to be said about racism. New Statesman

 

It is well written and excellently paced and provides an interesting and entertaining read. Letchworth Citizen

 

Gray is providing a crucial service for 11- to 14-year-olds with his intelligent and cleverly constructed novels. Northampton Echo

 

There are poignant moments, and the inter-racial encounters are finely described. Recent Children’s Fiction

 

What emerges is the warmth, vitality and resourcefulness of the community of the street and the beauty that children find in the midst of ugliness and decay. Recommended. Media Review

 

This fast-moving, well-written story may well bear a close resemblance to the real lives that some of our young people live. Junior Bookshelf

 

A powerful, fast-moving novel. A great deal of action and excitement. Warminster Journal

 

This is a brilliant book. It certainly kept me glued to the pages. Mia Mountain (aged 14)