Liccle Bit: Book 1: As seen on BBC iPlayer!

South Crongton Quartet #1

by Alex Wheatle

What's worse than hiding a secret? Liccle Bit's about to find out...Venetia King is the hottest girl at school. Too bad Lemar is the second shortest guy in his year. Everyone calls him Liccle Bit, and his two best friends, McKay and Jonah, never tire of telling him he has no chance with girls. Things aren't much better at home. His mum is permanently hassled, his sister a frustrated single mum and his dad moved out years ago. Liccle Bit wishes he could do something - anything! - to make life better. A new phone would be a start... When Venetia starts paying Liccle Bit attention, he secretly hopes he's on a fast track to a first date. Unfortunately, as a new gang war breaks out, he finds himself on a fast track to something much more sinister. South Crongton's notorious gang leader has taken an interest in Liccle Bit. Before he knows what's happening, he finds himself running errands. But when he hears about a killing on the estate, Liccle Bit is forced to question his choices. How can he possibly put things right?

Genres: Young Adult, Contemporary, Fiction, Thriller, Read For School, Young Adult Contemporary, Teen

249 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 1, 2015

About the author

Alex Alphonso Wheatle was a British novelist, who was sentenced to a term of imprisonment after the 1981 Brixton riot in London.

Reviews

[Snoakes · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm definitely not the target audience for this book. But no matter - Alex Wheatle is one of my favourite authors (you know, the ones who could write the blurb on the back of a cereal packet and you'd have to read it) so I was always going to enjoy it.
Liccle Bit is a great character - I'm not so old as I can't remember the turmoil of growing up, feeling like everyone is on your case and that nothing in life is fair.  His relationships with his family and his mates (sorry, I'm far too white to get away with bredren) are realistically drawn and it has a great plot. I'm looking forward to reading Crongton Knights now.
Thanks to Atom Books for the copies I won in a Twitter competition.

[Klaudia Nadine · Rating 2 out of 5]

the deep message of this book hasnt swam over to me yet.
i liked the cat really much, because it resemples the inner child of manjaro, that is hurt.
reading this book fellt like a fever dream.
I feel like Vanisha has a bad soul, but her can still be helped
the aura of this book would be blue and i felt the words in my hole room.
they fellt empty and godless.
still, i prey the best for the author

[Steph · Rating 3 out of 5]

Gangsters or family? #3wordbookreview

3.5 stars

This will be good for the reluctant readers at school. Short. Drugs. Gangs. Colloquial language. But will also keep their teachers happy with themes of family, friendship, loyalty, facing challenges, and making difficult choices.

[TheoneandonlyMaestro · Rating 2 out of 5]

Overall a pretty okay book, but what's with the terribly written characters? Lemar is REALLY stupid, even for a teenager, his mom shouldn't let her feelings out at her kids like that and Jonah, McKay and every guy fancying Venetia are a bunch of creeps, stalking her like that in the beginning. And we can't forget the biggest weakling of them all: Manjaro, the >>super scary gang leader<< who, suddenly becomes a weakling the moment he saw his son, all that"wanting to be a good dad" stuff is absolute crap , considering he cheated on Elaine WHEN HE LITERALLY KNEW SHE WAS PREGNANT. What did you expect bruv? That she's gonna forgive you and let you raise Jerome? He's not even hot. :(

[Adrianne · Rating 5 out of 5]

What's worse than hiding a secret? Liccle Bit's about to find out...

Venetia King is the hottest girl at school. Too bad Lemar is the second shortest guy in his year. Everyone calls him Liccle Bit, and his two best friends, McKay and Jonah, never tire of telling him he has no chance with girls. Things aren't much better at home. His mum is permanently hassled, his sister a frustrated single mum and his dad moved out years ago. Liccle Bit wishes he could do something - anything! - to make life better. A new phone would be a start...

As a new gang war breaks out on his estate, Lemar discovers that South Crongton's notorious gang leader has taken an interest in him. Before he knows what's happening, he's running errands. When he puts his own family in danger, Liccle Bit will be forced to question his choices. How can he possibly put things right?

Lemar is the protagonist in this story and the book takes place on the notorious Crongton Estate where there is an ongoing gang turf war . The leader of one of the gangs, Manjaro, gets Lemar to run errands and do favours for him for which he gets paid for. Lemar starts to question the choices that he's made when boys from the opposing gang turn up dead. But as he is in too deep trying to back out of helping Manjaro causes one of his family members to get injured. I have to say that this story was really funny and there were several points where I was laughing out loud. This isn't the first book I've read by Alex Wheatle but this is his first YA book and it's a good one. I really enjoyed Alex's writing style and the language he uses in the dialogue between Lemar and his friends.

[Kris · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read a review copy of the German edition, that comes out March 7th. 3.5 stars. detailed review follows ...

edit: meine Rezension auf brause*mag: https://brausemag.de/2018/05/buchreze...

[Jasmine · Rating 3 out of 5]

Slightly concerned that this is part of my children’s literature course considering it’s definitely not discussing children’s themes. Decent enough book, but not really something I’d read again.

[Mo_the_elf_prince · Rating 3 out of 5]

My friend Mia wanted me to read this book, needless to say i'll be more cautious with her recommendations in the future, i should get better friends. Really boring, not enjoyable at all. I always feel bad about the authors when i talk shit about their book, so imma stop right there.

[Corie Emanuel · Rating 3 out of 5]

A lot of ON

I’m being a bit hasty here as I’m only on chapter 8, however! There is a lot of the word ‘on’ and at first it was ok, but sometimes it’s repeated many times on one page e.g grub on, smirk on, laugh on, dance on. This goes on throughout as I searched the word; I was that annoyed and usually things like that don’t bother me.

Also some of the slang is out of touch, I’m 27 so i still like to believe I’m in the loop. Loop? Ok maybe not. But still come on! Damn...

I’ll probs change my stars to a higher rating once finished, just a bit irked atm with all the ONS.

[Nyasha Tarlia · Rating 3 out of 5]

When reading please acknowledge my grammar is not the best as I am dyslexic.

Im not the biggest fan of this book, I didn’t really like the writing style, I hate when it reads like an adult trying to speak like a teen. However this may be due to me not being the target audience.

I also didn’t really like the ending, I think the story ended abruptly.

However I understand the message the book was trying to deliver. I think this book would be better enjoyed by a younger person.

[Meredith · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gangsta’s of the uk

The only down side to this book is I read 3/4 of it thinking it was set in the USA. Once I twigged the location it all made more sense. Beautifully written story of a growing up in the projects uk style.

[Debhs · Rating 3 out of 5]

Started reading this for tutor-time and got caught up in it. Slightly slow at first but then becomes easy to read. The author lets you in Lemar’s thoughts as he struggles to avoid getting involved in the new gang-war. It made me realise how lucky I was to have the childhood I had.

[Chris Meehan · Rating 4 out of 5]

The recommendation from Malorie Blackman was enough for me and this book did not disappoint. A funny and heartwarming read. Looking forward to getting into the next two books.

[Günther.Gartenschlauch · Rating 2 out of 5]

Interesting concept but executed poorly. The title is very bland and the blurb doesn't say anything in particular about the book's content. The main characters life situation is typical for a setting like this and the gang concept is nothing new. Over all it is a pretty generic read about teenagers and the dangers of gang culture. A good message about how gangs are dangerous to adolescents, but a bit bland.

[Jayne Bauling · Rating 5 out of 5]

This precedes Crongton Knights, so I read them in the wrong order, but it didn’t matter, as the books stand alone, even with occasional references in Crongton Knights to events in this novel. Once again, this is YA at its best and most believable.
Lemar, aka Liccle Bit, is fourteen, an artist and a big dreamer. Family issues leave him heartsore and hurt, while a South Crongton gang leader is paying attention to him. Then there’s Venetia, the hottest girl at school, who has noticed his talent, and his friends McKay and Jonah who give him no chance with Venetia. So life is already confusing, unnerving and sometimes exciting for Liccle Bit, but it’s about to become terrifying.
Real, heart-wrenching and fast-paced, with brilliant dialogue.

[Marissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

After watching Steve McQueen’s biopic of Alex Wheatle’s life I was interested in reading some of Wheatle’s stuff, and I do not regret having done so! The Black British representation and the portrayal of gang-crime (which is very real and should be talked about more) was done well by Wheatle who, at the same time, upheld the appeal to teenage readers through colloquialisms. I feel like the sibling conflict was escalated too much and became quite upsetting, which is why I’ve knocked off a star, but given that I don’t often read YA and plan on reading Crongton Knights, I did like this one!

[Isobel Ramsden · Rating 4 out of 5]

Liccle Bit is about a fourteen-year-old boy who is pressured into running errands for a notorious gang leader, leading to his involvement in a deadly gang war. All he wants is to focus on school, friends and his art and stay away from the violence. But he's trapped - unable to go to the police or to confront the gang. How will he escape the nightmare? This is a great novel - funny, compassionate and well plotted.

[David Peat · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another great Alex Wheatle novel

Aimed a slightly younger audience than the other Wheatle books, it maintains the same exceptional height standard. Brilliant characters and setting with love and humanity at its centre. Similar theme - loving family despite issues, perfect girl and a terrifying villain. I adore everything about these books.

[Peter Hans · Rating 1 out of 5]

i onestly thought this book was boring.
there was just to less blood and dramatic in this book.
the whole plot was kindda boring and predicable. it just depensed on a stupid childs decisions
i read it only, because i was forced to.

[Boyan Cheng · Rating 4 out of 5]

I quite enjoyed it.

[JOE_nananananana · Rating 1 out of 5]

Certanly not the best book i've read but then again, i had to read it.
The story just seemed kinda boring to me, just an average book about gang wars, lots of novels like these. Predictable storyline, badly written characters and a dull finale (if you could even call it that).
Wouldn't recommend it.

[Paul Shamphire-Clock · Rating 2 out of 5]

didint like the development of the ccharakters
i would like to find out more about the beginning of the relationship from manjaro and Elaine.
a little bit more action would be pleasing.
my child had to read this for scool and i´m kinnda mad. there are so much better books, that they could possibly read.
but i really liked the charekter portrai of Gran

[Obi-Wan Canelloni · Rating 1 out of 5]

Pretty boring. I just read it because it looked nice and I was bored. Now I'm still bored and don't have anything nice to read

[Jane Flynn · Rating 2 out of 5]

good story line but felt it could have developed further.

[Jack Johnston · Rating 5 out of 5]

I struggled to put this book down. Definitely one of my favourite books that I have read this year! Cannot wait to read more from Alex Wheatle.

[Rotz · Rating 1 out of 5]

ROTZ ROTZ Rotz Rotz rotz rotz rotze rotze schmutz doof langweilig deexorbitant-nichtspezialgelagert. ICH MAG ES NICHT

[Alcohol-Pilot · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was looking for a good book to read while on long 6-12 hour flights, but this is the opposite of good. It is bland, generic and overall boring, the gangleader character is a weakling and the protagonist is not that smart. I surely am not the target audience but please even for a short lecture this is too bad.

[Anni K. Mars · Rating 5 out of 5]

Es war SO cool! Ich bin richtig traurig, dass ich Lemar verlassen muss.

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

He is my lecturer and such a nice man. His books and experience are absolutely great. I recommend this book so much

[Natalie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very relatable and contemporary. Involves the themes poverty and gang crime.