29 Locks

Product Information

When Donny’s posh new friend Zoe is offered a dubious modelling audition in London, the pair decide to ‘borrow’ a canal barge and navigate the 29 locks down to Kings Cross.

When Donny is taken from London finally and to Hertfordshire, he feels out of his depth and is taunted by his classmates who judge him by both how he looks and where he comes from.Locks does not shy away from the realities of growing up in poverty, and it is an eye-opening read, but most of all, it is a tender, fully-realised portrait of a wonderful character that everyone needs to meet. Her first novel, 29 LOCKS , was shortlisted for the Lucy Cavendish Fiction Prize ; Mslexia Children’s Novel Competition; Financial Times Best Books of 2021 and longlisted for the 2022 Branford Boase Award. I loved how much the author covered in this story, from poverty and crime to grooming, diversity, and racism — all of which are prevalent in today’s society. Growing up in dire poverty in Hackney, East London, his life is shaped by casual violence, gang initiation, drug-dealing, and knife crime.

I missed him when I finished reading 29 Locks, and I think that’s the best compliment I can pay a character! When his mum is jailed for drugs offences, Donny is fostered outside London to the Hertfordshire countryside. When they start out on their journey, the future for both of them looks unpromising, like the fake audition, but as each lock is navigated and conquered, as the waters fall then rise again, their adventure takes on a new dimension.His devotion to her through the years of his childhood never falters, even leading him to feel guilt when enjoying the cooking of his foster mother.