The Dare

At the start of his school holidays Danny Delaney is looking forward to a troublefree summer But when his mother returns home one afternoon flanked by two policemen he knows that something terrible has happened Mrs Delaney has accidentally hit a small boy with her car The boy is in a coma at the local hospital and nobody knows if he will ever wake up Consumed by guilt Dannys mother closes herself off while Danny and his father are left to pick up the pieces of their fractured family Told in John Boynes unique style from the point of view of a twelveyearold boy The Dare is a brilliantly compelling story about how one moment can change a family forever

John Boyne is the author of six novels including The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas, which won two Irish Book Awards, was shortlisted for the British Book Award and has recently been made into the Miramax feature film. His novels have been published in over thirty languages. He lives in Dublin.