Stupet

by Nigel Hinton

Dillon and his little brother Robbie haven't seen their dad in two years, not after he attacked their mum. Now he's turned up, out of the blue, and wants to take them on holiday. He says Mum's okay with it, only Dillon isn't sure.

And then he gets even less sure...

105 pages

First published October 1, 2014

About the author

Nigel Hinton was born and educated in London. After two years in advertising, he worked as an English teacher for nine years. His first novel, Collision Course (winner of the Dutch Silver Pen Award) was written as a result of a challenge from one of his pupils. He began teaching part-time and also worked as a professional actor before concentrating on his writing.

Nigel is the ever-popular author the Beaver Towers series of stories for primary school readers (which has been adapted for TV), and, for secondary school readers, he wrote the Buddy trilogy. His novel The Finders won him the Federation of Children’s Book Groups Award.

Reviews

[Therese Svensson · Rating 4 out of 5]

En av de bästa och starkaste lättlästa ungdomsböckerna jag läst hittills. Boken är stundtals nattsvart, men ursäktar sig inte och vågar lyfta svåra och tunga ämnen. En lättläst bok som rekommenderas.

[Bibliotekstanten · Rating 3 out of 5]

Jag ska bokprata för en grupp lässvaga elever och fick tipset att läsa Stupet av Nigel Hinton. Tänkte för mig själv att det verkligen är en författare med lååång karriär och googlade hans ålder. Född 1941 mitt under flyganfallen i London, så idag 84år. "Imponerade" tänkte jag och började leta i hans verkregister efter den ungdomsbok, som kändes rätt gammal sent 80-tal när jag "tvingades" läsa den i skolan. Hittade den inte. Skumt! Visade sig att jag blandat ihop Nigel Hinton med S. E. Hinton, en amerikansk ungdomsförfattare, och boken jag for efter var Rumble Fish. Den kom 1975 så känslan av "gammal" var ändå korrekt. Lång svamlig intro, men jag har alltså läst den lättlästa boken Stupet!

Dillon och lillbrorsan Robbie bor med mamma sedan pappa åkt i fängelse för misshandel av deras mor. Dillon minns pappa med ganska mycket skräck, men Robbie tänker och längtar efter pappa. Så plötsligt en dag plingar det på dörren och där står pappa. Glad, och enligt enen utsago frisk, och nu har han mammas välsignelse att ta med "sina pojkar" på campingtrip. Dillon är skeptisk, men Robbie blir jätteglad och snart nog sitter alla tre i bilen på väg mot Gardle Head. Till en början är det trevlig, med någon liten incident, men Dillon blir mer och mer osäker på om pappa verkligen mår okej. Och om mamma verkligen sa ja till deras trip.

Stupet är en bra och spännande bok. Som mycket av Argassos utgivning är den luftigt och enkelt utan att vara tunn till innehållet. Tror den kommer passa min målgrupp p e r f e k t!!

[Ms Warner · Rating 4 out of 5]

Barrington Stoke is a specialist publisher of books for reluctant and/or dyslexic readers. The stories are simple to read, but age appropriate and printed on dyslexic friendly paper (yellow to stop ghosting) and in a friendly font. This book has been edited to a reading age of 8 (but the themes are much more suited to 14+). Winner winner.

On The Edge is the story of brothers, Robbie and Dillon and their estranged father. Dad arrives and whisks the boys away for a weekend of camping, assuring them that it’s all ok with their mum. Hmmmm. Spoiler alert- it’s not!

This is a simply written, high-tension short novel that deals with complex themes of mental health (and the PTSD experienced by many ex-service people), family relationships, and father-son dynamics. I LOVED that at the very end it challenged what I thought I knew about the father.

Highly recommend for older reluctant readers.

[Sophie Snowden · Rating 4 out of 5]

A strange and almost scary book. Could be a difficult subject for some children so be careful who you give it to. But a fab read!

[Sanna Bergkvist · Rating 4 out of 5]

A bit to short story, but well written and really scary.
This would fit good for boys that don’t like to read to get some excitement for the story going.

[Kulturens Hjältar]

Målgrupp: Högstadiet

[Emma Hedkvist · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bra bok för lässvaga. Spännande handling som ändå täcker tunga, mörka ämnen, lite enklare text, ganska korta kapitel.

[Jenson Poon · Rating 3 out of 5]

This stories is about about a family.The dad is violent he beat his wife,so he wasn't be allowed anywhere near the family since.But now dad turned up and bring his son to a trip.But Dillon doesn't trust his mum will dad bring them to a trip but Dillon can't contact his mum.

I decide to read this book is because this book is about a family relationships book so is very interesting.

My favorite quote from this book is (dada coming to get us)because suddenly the dad is coming

I learn many new word from this book that I don't know

[St Stephen's C C]

When Dillon's dad turns up unannounced to take him and his brother on a trip, Dillon isn't sure what to do - Mum's at work and they haven't seen Dad in months. Dillon's little brother Robbie is ecstatic to see his father and desperate to go. But something's not right. Why won't Dad let them use their phones? And why are their faces plastered all over the news? What exactly does Dad want with them? A dark, gritty drama with some strong content.