Pigeon English by Stephen Kelman

Nothing in Stephen Kelman’s Booker-shortlisted novel suggests to me that he is a cynical man (quite the opposite in fact), so it seems churlish to marvel at the perfect timing of this summer’s riots for him and his book. For while Sky News has barely finished rolling the breaking story that we are an island of two nations (the Rich and the Poor), here is a powerful tale of life among that less fortunate tribe.
 
Pigeon English is narrated by Harri, a ten-year-old who has just moved with his mum and teenage sister from Ghana to England. Harri is a bright, sunny boy from a loving family, but this is scant protection against the petty, meaningless, and murderous chaos of a North London estate. Soon he is overwhelmed by a world where bullies steal dinner-money at lunchtime and trade guns by night.

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Simon Cook

Pensioners have never had it so good

As a character, Harri is well-drawn.