Urban Grimshaw and the Shed Crew

Urban Grimshaw and the Shed Crew

by Bernard Hare (Author)

Synopsis

You're twelve years old. Your mother's a junkie and your father might as well be dead. You can't read or write, and you don't go to school. An average day means sitting round a bonfire with your mates smoking drugs, or stealing cars. Welcome to Urban's world. Bernard 'Chop' Hare was on society's margins, living on one of Leeds' roughest estates and with a liking for drink and drugs. So he knew what life in the underclass was like in '90s Britain. But even he was shocked when he met Urban, an illiterate, glue-sniffing twelve-year-old. And through Urban he got to know the Shed Crew -- an anarchic gang of kids between the ages of ten and fourteen; joy-riding, thieving runaways, who were no strangers to drugs or sex. Nearly all had been in care, but few adults really cared. Bernard decided to do what he could. He didn't know what he was letting himself in for.

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More Information

Format: Hardcover
Pages: 320
Edition: First Edition
Publisher: Sceptre
Published: 20 Jun 2005

ISBN 10: 0340837349
ISBN 13: 9780340837344

Media Reviews
'Hare writes with laconic self-deprecation, black humour and a humane, ever present sense of railing against the system that failed Urban and his gang. The book is as exceptional as the bonds he formed.' -- Tina Jackson, Metro 'A damnation of British society that is both violently shocking and laugh-out-loud funny, reading somewhere between a pre-teen Trainspotting and a northern-English equivalent of Larry Clark's Kids ... a memoir with attitude' -- Big Issue 'One of the most astonishing and moving books I've read in years. It shocked me, but the amazing warmth, compassion and humour of Bernie's writing also filled me with hope. This is a must read for everyone from Richard and Judy to Tony Blair. It is a portrait of Britain today.' Louise Sherwin-Stark, Sales 'The most incredible non-fiction I've read all year.' Hugo Hutchison, Marketing 'Truly ground-breaking - the most important book we're publishing in 2005' Richard Peters, Sales
Author Bio
Bernard Hare was born in 1958 into a Leeds mining family. He was educated at grammar school and after gaining a BA in Applied Social Sciences at Hatfield Polytechnic, he became a social worker. Dillusioned with the system following the miners' strike of 1984, he dropped out, working occasionally as a removal man. He now writes, plays chess, and works in community arts -- he has edited Reflections, a collection of pieces by the creative writing class at East Leeds Family Learning Centre, and Flatlands (Nov 04), an anthology of writing and a cd of music by local people, organised by the Flatlands Community Arts Group which Bernard co-founded.