Winner of the Booktrust Teenage Fiction Prize 2010
'A brave, zany and warm-hearted road story' The Guardian.
'It's funny, it's wise, it's beautifully written. It's not afraid of a bittersweet ending, and it came at me completely from left field.' Jill Murphy, The Bookbag.
"Where are you going?' asked border patrol.
'We're going to New York to see our grandma and the Empire State Building and the Statue of Libery and everything. And our granny's going to bake us her very own apple pie.' She sounded so convincing. Some days I wondered who the Rat really was.
'What's your granny's name?' asked the officer. That's it! The Rat's Little Red Riding Hood performance had ruined us.
'Grandma, of course.'
I was relieved when I heard laughter. 'Would you like to see our birth certificates?' said the Rat. She always had to overdo it! She wouldn't be satisfied until we were locked up!"
Meet the Rat: A dancing, football-playing gangster-baiting ten-year-old. When she foresaw her father's death, she picked up her football and decided to head for New York. Meet her older brother Bob: Protector of the Rat, but more often her follower, he is determined to find their uncle in America and discover a new life for them both. On their adventures across the flatlands of Winnipeg and through the exciting streets of New York, Bob and the Rat make friends with a hilarious con man and a famous rap star, and escape numerous dangers. But is their Uncle a rich business man, or is the word on the street, that he something more sinister, true? And will they ever find him?
Hughes has created a funny, warm, unique world that lives and breathes. Like I Capture the Castle, Breakfast at Tiffany's, The Curious Incident, Hughes' story and characters will resonate for many and for years to come.
Read an interview with the Booktrust Teenage Award winner here...
About the Author
Gregory Hughes was born and lives in Liverpool. After being expelled from Jesuit school, he went to a home for wayward boys, where he spent some very happy times. After some madcap years in his youth, he went to University to study computers. He has worked as everything from a dishwasher to a deep sea diver, and has worked in many countries including Norway, Canada and America.
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