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The Gone Book

Helena Close author

Format:Paperback

Publisher:Little Island

Published:2nd Apr '20

Should be back in stock very soon

The Gone Book cover

I know you’ll hate me. I just know you will. But I can’t help it. I’m going to find you.

Matt’s mam left home when he was 10. He writes letters to her but doesn’t send them. He keeps them in his Gone Book, which he hides in his room. Five years of letters about his life. Five years of hurt.

Matt’s dad won’t talk about her. His older brother is mixed up with drugs and messing with dangerous characters. His friends, Mikey and Anna, are the best thing in his life, but Matt keeps pushing them away.

All Matt wants to do is skate, surf, and forget. But now his mam is back in town and Matt knows he needs to find her, to finally deliver the truth.

Dark and gritty and desperately sad and wildly funny, this is as real as writing gets. I was locked inside of Matt's head for the duration, and I lived his whole mad summer. Every line rings perfectly true.

-- Donal Ryan

A skillful and truthful novel from a wonderful storyteller.

-- Joseph O'Connor

Achingly sad but hugely funny. A gritty story full of heart.

-- Sheena Wilkinson

 "I would highly recommend this book. It’s a chaotic read, full of twists and turns. It is gritty and realistic, and highlights the anguish of an absent parent and the strife of teenage friendships."

* Paper Lanterns *

"A heart-wrenching, hard punching, insightful narrative of life in modern Ireland."

* Swear by the Boo

  • Winner of White Raven Award 2021
  • Short-listed for An Post Irish Book Awards: Dept 51 @ Eason Teen and Young Adult Book of the Year 2020
  • Short-listed for Biennial Literacy Association of Ireland Young Adult Book Award 2021 2021
  • Nominated for Carnegie Medal 2021

ISBN: 9781912417445

Dimensions: 198mm x 129mm x 21mm

Weight: 275g

304 pages