Jan Needle: 2 books

It struck him suddenly that they were boats, high-speed inflatables with plumes of water at the front and foaming fountains dragged along behind. They were packed with crouching men, with AK47s, hand grenades, and they were racing straight towards him, across a deep-green sea. He heard an enormous...

My Mate Shofiq is a children’s novel that many people think is too tough for mere children to read. It is about the friendship between two Oldham boys which even they, at first, think is unlikely and unnecessary. Bernard, quite frankly, does not like “Pakis,” which seems fair enough to Shofiq...