Dead Ends
Will be published approx. on 4. February 2027
Book
Paperback/Softback
320 pages
978-0-241-64546-8 (ISBN)
Description
An electrifying new YA verse-novel by multi-award-winning and Carnegie nominated author and poet Ashley Hickson-Lovence. Perfect for fans of Jason Reynolds, Dean Atta and Manjeet Mann.
'Gritty, engrossing and deeply relatable' Nathanael Lessore
There are stories within these storeys . . .
Something is going down at Singer Court.
Something big.
It's Saturday morning and fourteen-year-old Toby 'Mastermind' McKenzie and his younger brother Dre are forced to evacuate their high-rise tower block by armed officers.
Set over the course of a single day, this is the nail-bitingly thrilling and poetic tale of a bright young Black boy using the power of courage, friendship and unity to save his community.
Ashley Hickson-Lovence's debut YA verse-novel Wild East won the YA Diverse Book Award 2025, the Two Cities Book Award 2024, the Mal Peet Children's Award 2024 and the East Anglian Book of the Year 2024. It was nominated for the Carnegie Medal for Writing 2025 and shortlisted and longlisted for multiple more prizes.
Praise for Wild East:
'A book meant to be heard . . . It's the fresh, spoken word style that makes Ronny's story' The Times
'Heartfelt and up-to-the-minute . . . A reminder that even short lines can take you a long way' The Sunday Times
'A powerful story of resilience, friendship, discovery and growth' Jeffrey Boakye, author of Kofi and the Rap Battle Summer
'I loved Ronny's kindness, vulnerability, empathy, tenacity and open-heartedness' Patrice Lawrence, author of Orangeboy
'Raw, moving, and so accessible. A powerful spoken-word style verse novel' Rashmi Sirdeshpande, author of How To Be Extraordinary
'Welcomes all types of readers . . . Hickson-Lovence has crafted a superb piece' DD Armstrong, author of Ugly Dogs Don't Cry
'This empowering verse novel announces the arrival of an exciting new talent in YA fiction' Waterstones.com
'Gritty, engrossing and deeply relatable' Nathanael Lessore
There are stories within these storeys . . .
Something is going down at Singer Court.
Something big.
It's Saturday morning and fourteen-year-old Toby 'Mastermind' McKenzie and his younger brother Dre are forced to evacuate their high-rise tower block by armed officers.
Set over the course of a single day, this is the nail-bitingly thrilling and poetic tale of a bright young Black boy using the power of courage, friendship and unity to save his community.
Ashley Hickson-Lovence's debut YA verse-novel Wild East won the YA Diverse Book Award 2025, the Two Cities Book Award 2024, the Mal Peet Children's Award 2024 and the East Anglian Book of the Year 2024. It was nominated for the Carnegie Medal for Writing 2025 and shortlisted and longlisted for multiple more prizes.
Praise for Wild East:
'A book meant to be heard . . . It's the fresh, spoken word style that makes Ronny's story' The Times
'Heartfelt and up-to-the-minute . . . A reminder that even short lines can take you a long way' The Sunday Times
'A powerful story of resilience, friendship, discovery and growth' Jeffrey Boakye, author of Kofi and the Rap Battle Summer
'I loved Ronny's kindness, vulnerability, empathy, tenacity and open-heartedness' Patrice Lawrence, author of Orangeboy
'Raw, moving, and so accessible. A powerful spoken-word style verse novel' Rashmi Sirdeshpande, author of How To Be Extraordinary
'Welcomes all types of readers . . . Hickson-Lovence has crafted a superb piece' DD Armstrong, author of Ugly Dogs Don't Cry
'This empowering verse novel announces the arrival of an exciting new talent in YA fiction' Waterstones.com
Reviews / Votes
Another future award winner from Ashley. This one is gritty, engrossing and deeply relatable -- Nathanael LessoreMore details
Language
English
Place of publication
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Penguin Random House Children's UK
Target group
Young adult
Children/juvenile
Interest Age: From 12 years
Product notice
Paperback (UK-B)
Dimensions
Height: 198 mm
Width: 129 mm
Thickness: 35 mm
Weight
500 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-241-64546-8 (9780241645468)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
E-Book
approx. 02/2027
Penguin Books Ltd
€9.99
Not yet available
Persons
Ashley Hickson-Lovence is a novelist, poet, literary critic, and Lecturer of Creative Writing. Wild East was his first multi-award-winning YA verse-novel, and was partly inspired by his time as a secondary school English teacher, his own move from London to Norwich, tutoring a group of asylum seekers at an Arvon retreat, and his love of British hip hop. Ashley has also written three adult novels: The 392, Your Show, which was longlisted for the Gordon Burn Prize and shortlisted for the East Anglian Book Awards, and About To Fall Apart. His poetry collection Why I Am Not a Bus Driver has been shortlisted for the Jhalak Poetry Prize and includes the poem 'Munster Road', highly commended for Best Single Poem at the Forward Prize. He holds a PhD in Creative and Critical Writing from the University of East Anglia and was nominated for the Black Excellence Award for Outstanding Contribution to Literature in 2023. His second YA verse-novel, Dead Ends, will publish in 2027.