Pigeon English vs Ship Breaker

The judge for this round is Mrs McKenzie.

Pigeon English depicts life on a gang ridden estate as seen by a young boy, recently arrived from Ghana with his mother and sister. It conveys the closed world of school and the rituals and lore of schoolchildren very well but the voice of the main character, Harri, is not entirely convincing. He and his friends are in the first year of secondary school but seem younger.

Other characters are much more believable, especially the women such as Harri's aunt or his sister's schoolfriend who are emotionally tied to the men who treat them so brutally. Harri's attempts at being accepted by his local gang are well drawn and the reader really feels his shame and horror in what he becomes involved in. The episode where he is challenged to throw stones at a bus, only to be seen and chastised by his Mum, is particularly good.

However other elements do not work so well, one such being the mystical pigeon/angel sections. The book also loses narrative pace part way and this, coupled with the unconvincing nature of the boy, Harri, take away from its good points.

By the by, the two very different covers are quite interesting - the one in the red and orange was the first to appear, the top one appeared later. It seems to me that the early one is intended for an adult audience whereas the later edition is geared to younger readers. The later edition gives up on the pigeon while using the trainers over the wire to give some indication of content. 

Ship Breaker is a very different story, set in a dystopian future although it too is concerned with young people working out how to survive in a difficult environment.

It centres on the lives of teams of scavengers - ship breakers - who eke out a precarious living by cutting up beached oil tankers. Only the small and agile can work deep within these vessels and our hero, Nailer, is close to becoming too big. Luckily for him, he discovers a wrecked ship, owned by one of the remaining wealthy families who control his world, and rescues a girl, Nita, who belongs to the family.

After this he is plunged into a world of intrigue and adventure as he and Nita set out to restore her to her family. Their situation is complicated by his father who is a vile and vicious bully and by the power struggle between the great families. Will Nailer and Nita even survive?

This is a very well told story with well defined and believable characters. The action is exciting and the doubts that assail Nailer are quite understandable - is he going to end up like his father or will he prove himself to be a true hero?  There is plenty of action and excitement and the dilemmas faced by Nailer are convincing. The book transcends the hectic nature of an ordinary adventure by its attention to scene setting, and its exploration of character.

My winner is Ship Breaker.