Needle

Award-winning author Patrice Lawrence explores the harsh reality of the criminal justice system for young people in this riveting teen drama.

Roo is a demon knitter. She can’t remember how she learned – maybe from a grandparent or while she was in another foster home. But it’s the only thing she believes she’s really good at. So when her foster mum’s son destroys her latest creation, Roo loses it and pokes him in the hand with her knitting needle. It damages a nerve and she gets sucked into the criminal justice system for assault. Roo’s not sorry and she’s never apologised to anyone in her life. But people keep telling her that if she says sorry, they’ll go easier on her. Can she bring herself to say it and not mean it when her freedom’s at stake?

Selling Points:

• Patrice is a “fresh and important” (The Times) figure in young adult books and is widely celebrated for her authentic portrayal of teenage voices – she won both the Bookseller YA Prize and Waterstones Prize for Older Children’s Fiction with Orangeboy, and the inaugural children’s and YA category of the Jhalak Prize with Eight Pieces of Silva.
• Needle explores the way our criminal justice system deals with young offenders – with a tightly packed plot and compelling characters, it sheds a crucial light on an important but often neglected issue.
• Patrice is a passionate advocate for equality and social justice and spent 20 years working with charities supporting these causes, making her perfectly suited to explore the themes in this story.
• Proof copies will be made available in support of publication.