Speaking In Tongues

Just finished reading Stephen Kelman's incredible debut novel, Pigeon English, and it may well be the best book I've read all year. Told from the perspective of Harrison Opoku, an eleven-year-old Ghanaian boy whose family have just moved to London, the narrative charts Harri's efforts to adapt to UK culture and his slowly-developing interest in Poppy, the girl who sits next to him at school, while a gang war erupts on the estate.

It's hilarious, poignant and heartbreaking. Read it. And prepare to be in an emotionally fragile state when you reach the last page.