Asboville
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Product Description
Scott Pack, The Bookseller
‘An excellent debut novel, definitely in my top ten of the year’
Scott Pack, The Bookseller
'An excellent debut novel, definitely in my top ten of the year.'
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Danny Rhodes' (not to be confused with the wonderful Dan Rhodes) Asboville is a determined attempt at seeing the world through the eyes of a disaffected 16-year-old and he has certainly created a likeable and sympathetic character that still manages to live up to some yobbish stereotypes. Excuses are made and explanations given, but not too many - sometimes JB's actions are simply down to him; no logic, rhyme or reason and that's his prerogative.
Rhodes states that he "wanted to give a voice to those teenagers who are being pushed towards the margins of our society by the introduction of Anti-Social Behavioural Orders", but he seems to walk the fence on the effectiveness of ASBOs; there is a really well-written and moving scene in which JB's mother berates the local authorities for vilifying and criminalising her son and shames the hypocritical residents of the estate yet, in the end, JB (and his family) do make it good as a direct result of the penalties enforced.
Although it really wasn't at all long ago, I have no idea what it is like to be a teenager in the 21st Century, but imagine that in many ways it hasn't changed too much. On the basis of that, the language used by the children is a little restrained which perhaps takes away from the credibility of JB's voice.
I really enjoyed Asboville and enjoyed JB's story (I see room for a sequel), but I'm not quite sure if there is an intended readership - Danny Rhodes is an English teacher and, at times, I couldn't help but feel that he was writing for a teenage reader... which is no bad thing. I do hope we see more from Danny Rhodes.
Rhodes states that he "wanted to give a voice to those teenagers who are being pushed towards the margins of our society by the introduction of Anti-Social Behavioural Orders", but he seems to walk the fence on the effectiveness of ASBOs; there is a really well-written and moving scene in which JB's mother berates the local authorities for vilifying and criminalising her son and shames the hypocritical residents of the estate yet, in the end, JB (and his family) do make it good as a direct result of the penalties enforced.
Although it really wasn't at all long ago, I have no idea what it is like to be a teenager in the 21st Century, but imagine that in many ways it hasn't changed too much. On the basis of that, the language used by the children is a little restrained which perhaps takes away from the credibility of JB's voice.
I really enjoyed Asboville and enjoyed JB's story (I see room for a sequel), but I'm not quite sure if there is an intended readership - Danny Rhodes is an English teacher and, at times, I couldn't help but feel that he was writing for a teenage reader... which is no bad thing. I do hope we see more from Danny Rhodes.
Format:Paperback
Like a modern English version of S. E. Hinton's The Outsiders, this is an excellent, tightly-written novel for teenagers about the rough life of JB, 16-year-old boy sent away from his urban estate to live with his uncle by the sea. JB's voice - frustrated, inarticulate and defensive but sensitive and searching too - rings true, and his story unfolds in a realistic, haphazard way. Without being teachy or preachy, or idealising his characters - some of whom are plain thugs - Danny Rhodes shows how difficult it is for teens to overcome disadvantage, and how easily they can become unthinking adults' scapegoats.
Format:Paperback
'Asboville' is the story of JB, a disaffected teenager from London who finds himself - under threat of harsher penalties - living in a caravan with his gruff uncle in a less than glamorous seaside town. Under the terms of his ASBO, he is obliged to paint beach huts all day, and be back in the caravan by seven o'clock every night. He doesn't take to it easily, but he does take to it, despite the dangerous distraction of the local teen gang and the less dangerous, but just as unsettling, appearance of Sal, a local girl with problems of her own.
'Asboville', for me, was a bit of a slow burner and, whilst it's readable from the outset, it took me a little while to get into it. I also found myself distracted during some of the early pages by the occasionally less than convincing attention to detail. However, it wasn't too long before I was drawn into the increasingly engaging plot - laced with a little mystery here and there - and 'Asboville' then claimed that highest of honours: it became a book that the reader really doesn't want to put down. The beach hut painting idea, which at first glance seems a fairly mundane one, is very skilfully manipulated and, together with his use of Sal, Rhodes offers subtle confirmation of Freud's assertion that love and work are the cornerstones of our humanness.
All of this makes 'Asboville' sound very much like a book for adults, and indeed it is. But Rhodes knows his subject, and his insights into the minds of teenagers in a fractured society have both authenticity and the potential (in the way that only a good novel can have) for instruction and enlightenment. My son is fifteen years old. If I could get him to read anything at all, I'd get him to read this.
Gregory Heath, author of 'The Entire Animal'
The Entire Animal
'Asboville', for me, was a bit of a slow burner and, whilst it's readable from the outset, it took me a little while to get into it. I also found myself distracted during some of the early pages by the occasionally less than convincing attention to detail. However, it wasn't too long before I was drawn into the increasingly engaging plot - laced with a little mystery here and there - and 'Asboville' then claimed that highest of honours: it became a book that the reader really doesn't want to put down. The beach hut painting idea, which at first glance seems a fairly mundane one, is very skilfully manipulated and, together with his use of Sal, Rhodes offers subtle confirmation of Freud's assertion that love and work are the cornerstones of our humanness.
All of this makes 'Asboville' sound very much like a book for adults, and indeed it is. But Rhodes knows his subject, and his insights into the minds of teenagers in a fractured society have both authenticity and the potential (in the way that only a good novel can have) for instruction and enlightenment. My son is fifteen years old. If I could get him to read anything at all, I'd get him to read this.
Gregory Heath, author of 'The Entire Animal'
The Entire Animal
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