Looking for JJ by Anne Cassidy

Winner of the Booktrust Teenage Prize

'In less assured hands this could have been a well-intentioned failure, but Cassidy is in absolute control of her material. Compassionate, unsensational and unflinching...' The Guardian

When a 10-year-old girl kills her best friend, she is convicted of manslaughter and locked away.Seven years later she is released on licence with a new identity.

In this brave and intelligent novel, Anne Cassidy explores a myriad of themes, questioning everything from the ethics of tabloid journalism to the outcome of ineffectual parenting.

It asks more questions than it answers and suggests that in some circumstances there is no 'right' or 'wrong', merely 'consequences'. Should our sympathy lie with the killer as she is relentlessly pursued by the press, hungry for a story, or with the victim and her family in a society desperate for justice?

This is a brilliant and disturbing piece of writing that looks behind the headlines and forces the reader to question some of their attitudes to a number of contemporary issues.

Anne Cassidy explains why she wanted to write such a difficult book and speaks about the response it has engendered among young readers....

About the Author

Anne Cassidy was born in London in 1952, and worked for some years as a teacher, before becoming a full-time writer. She specializes in crime stories and thrillers for teenagers, and has written a series of East End Murder books: A Family Affair (1995); Accidental Death (1996); End of the Line (1996); No Through Road (1996); Brotherly Love (1997); Death by Drowning (1999); Killing Time (1999); and Dead Quiet (2000).

Her books also include Missing Judy (2002), the story of Kim, whose sister Judy has been missing for six years, and Looking for JJ (2004).

JJ is Jennifer Jones, a girl who is released after serving a sentence for manslaughter for a crime she committed when she was ten years old. This book was shortlisted for the 2004 Whitbread Children’s Book Award and won the Booktrust Teenage Prize.

Two of her most recent books are The Story of my Life (2007), the story of Kevin, a teenage boy who is drawn into crime; and Forget Me Not (2008).

To find out more about the author click here...

Nowhere to hide - Jan Mark appreciates a chilling tale of betrayal and death in Anne Cassidy's 2004 prize winner...