Nature of the Beast, The - Softcover

Janni Howker

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0744543509 ISBN 13: 9780744543506

Publisher: Walker Books, 1996

Synopsis

This is a powerful novel about a community devastated by unemployment and shaken by the fear of a terrifying beast roaming the moors - which young Bill Coward is determined to track down at any cost. It started out as a game. A game that Billy and his friend Mick play to take their minds off the fact that the mill might be closing and everyone could lose their jobs. They'll hunt down the Haverston Beast, that's killing sheep and hens and maybe even men, and kill it. So what if the farmers say it's just a dog - they know that it's real and they're out to prove it. But then Billy's dad finds out that the mill might close for ever, and suddenly the game doesn't seem so much fun any more - and the terrifying Beast might be closer to home than Billy imagined...An astonishing novel about the monster that is unemployment, and its devastating effects on a local community, "The Nature of the Beast" is as painfully truthful and relevant today as it was when it was first published, to critical acclaim, in 1985.

About this title

About the Author

Janni Howker's first book, Badger on the Barge, was shortlisted for the Whitbread Children's Novel Award and the Carnegie Medal. She has since written three longer works of fiction, The Nature of the Beast, Isaac Campion and Martin Farrell - each of which have been highly acclaimed, winning her the Observer Teenage Fiction Prize, the Whitbread Children's Novel Award and the Somerset Maugham Award. She is also the author of the non-fiction picture book, Walk With a Wolf, shortlisted for the Emil/Kurt Maschler Award and the Times Educational Supplement Information Books Junior Award.

From School Library Journal

Grade 7-9 The nature of the beast is such that when deprived of physical and emotional sustenance, it turns wild. To survive, the Haverston beast is killing domestic animals from farms near a town which is being destroyed by unemployment when the local mill is shut down. The story is told by Billy, whose father and grandfather are thrown out of work by the mill closing. Tension grows and tempers flare. Billy's best friend's father has a nervous breakdown. Billy's father takes off for Scottish oil fields to look for work, and that is the final blow that sets the stage for Billy to confront the beast and take its place. This stark and powerful story, set in a small town in nothern England, captures the universal feeling of devastation when the economic lifeblood of the community disappears. Some English phrases may put off some readers, but all of the phrases and slang become clear in the context of the action. Although Howker, author of the award-winning short story collection, Badger on the Barge (Greenwillow, 1985), has drawn a darker picture in this novel, she uses her palette with the caring skill that makes her a welcome addition to those who write for young people. A book for better readers, this may be limited in appeal because of the situation and setting. However, it is finely crafted and offers much to think about and to discuss. Amy Kellman, Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Walker Books
• Publication date: 1996
• ISBN 10: 0744543509
• ISBN 13: 9780744543506
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 173