Junk, known as Smack in the US, is a realistic novel for young adults, written by British author Melvin Burgess and published in 1996 by Andersen in the UK. Set on the streets of Bristol, England, it features two runaway teenagers who join a group of squatters, where they fall into heroin addiction and embrace anarchism. Both critically and commercially, it is the best received of Burgess' novels.[citation needed] Yet it was unusually controversial at first, criticised negatively for its 'how-to' aspect, or its dark realism, or its moral relativism.[3]
Burgess won the annual Carnegie Medal from the Library Association, recognising the year's outstanding children's book by a British author.[4] For the 70th anniversary of the Medal, in 2007, Junk was named one of the Top 10 winning works, selected by a panel to compose the ballot for a public election of the all-time favourite.[5]Junk also won the Guardian Children's Fiction Prize, a similar award that authors may not win twice;[6] it is the latest of six books to win both awards.[lower-alpha 1]
In the US, Henry Holt published the novel in 1997 as Smack[2] — another slang term for heroin.
Junk is told in the first person, with each chapter having a different character narrating. At the beginning of the story, fourteen-year old Gemma Brogan is spending time with David 'Tar' Lawson, a boy of the same age. Tar is a victim of physical abuse at the hands of his father, and — as he later realises — emotional abuse from his mother. Both of his parents are alcoholics. After a particularly violent incident, he decides to run away to Bristol, even though he knows no-one there and has no money. Gemma, despite having loving (albeit strict) parents, also decides to leave home and join Tar in Bristol shortly afterwards.
In Bristol, Tar sleeps rough, interacting regularly only with Skolly, a local newsagent who likes his naive, trusting attitude. Skolly eventually introduces Tar to Richard, an absent-minded, vegan anarchist, who opens up abandoned houses for use as squats. Tar joins Richard and his friends Vonny, an eighteen-year old 'motherly' woman; and her boyfriend Jerry, who is described as a bit useless. Between them, the young adults support Tar financially in order to keep him safe and away from his father, even though it is illegal. Gemma comes 'to visit', intending to stay. Vonny is frustrated by this, as she does not see it as the same situation; they are protecting Tar, but Gemma is unafraid and merely wants a more 'interesting' life. Vonny reluctantly allows Gemma to remain with them, but she insists that both teenagers notify their families from a telephone box that they are safe. Tar is happy with their situation, but Gemma gradually grows more restless, wanting to find some people their own age.
The adults decide after a few weeks that Gemma must return home. Richard holds a 'farewell' party in the abandoned house and, to Vonny's chagrin, he invites Lily and Rob, a couple whom she suspects to be on hard drugs. Gemma is enamoured with Lily from the moment she sees her. The two girls connect instantly, and Lily invites the pair to stay the night with them. Whilst they are there, Lily and Rob encourage Gemma and Tar to smoke heroin with them, and they do, believing that only smoking it will not get them addicted. The pair are subsequently invited to live with Lily and Rob, and they do.
Tar and Gemma live with Lily and Rob for a long time, and in the early days, it is all fun. They have frequent parties, shoplift to feed themselves, and heat their house with fuel from skips. They know all the local squatters and drug-users, becoming particularly close to Sally, another girl their age. However, their heroin-smoking habit quickly turns into long-term addiction. Eventually, the girls become prostitutes to fund their habit.
After an event involving a friend who overdoses at their home, the police arrest Tar. He is sent to a drug rehabilitation centre as an alternative to prison, and receives treatment. Through counselling, he also faces some of the trauma he has endured. He leaves the centre clean, determined to stay off drugs, but he uses heroin almost immediately once he arrives back at the squat.
Lily, who does not work in the massage parlours as Gemma and Sally do, and instead works on the street with the protection of Rob, discovers she is pregnant. She decides to keep the baby, and the five of them vow to get clean. They travel to Wales, with the aim of getting themselves away from heroin and detoxing in a safe environment. However, the trip quickly falls apart. Rob and Sally both smuggle some heroin along with them, Tar hitchhikes back to Bristol on the second day, and Lily discovers Rob's heroin and injects some herself. Gemma initially resists, but once she realises she is the only one still trying to stop using drugs, she starts using them again. They return to Bristol, scared by what they have realised about their addictions: that they truly cannot stop just because they want to.
In time, Lily has the baby and continues to inject heroin whilst the baby is breastfeeding. Meanwhile, Rob starts cottaging himself in public toilets, to fund their habit. Tar has totally changed; the naive, joyful person he once was, has been replaced by someone who lies to and steals from his friends and even from Gemma. Both boys become drug dealers. They have a traumatic experience when they discover a friend and his girlfriend dead after overdosing. However, they do nothing to alert the authorities, instead just stealing their drug stash.
The catalyst comes when Gemma realises that she, too, is pregnant. After a particularly vulnerable moment with Lily, who non-verbally admits she is overwhelmed, Gemma realises that she cannot let the same thing happen to her own baby. She leaves the house in the middle of the night and phones the police, telling them the address of the house and that it is being used to deal drugs. Tar, Rob and Lily are arrested, and Tar takes the rap again, which means he is given a custodial sentence. Meanwhile, Gemma locates Vonny and asks for her help. She allows Vonny to get in touch with her parents, who come to the hospital where she has been admitted with severe withdrawal symptoms. For the first time in three-and-a-half years, the Brogans are reunited with their daughter, who asks to come home.
Gemma returns to live in her hometown drug-free. She gives birth to her daughter Oona, whilst waiting for Tar to come out of prison. However, once he is released, Gemma realises that she no longer feels the same way about Tar, and they end their relationship. The reader learns that Tar ends up forcing his way into Gemma's home and hits her at least once, in a bleak repetition of his own father's behaviour. Gemma remains free of heroin, once she has gone through withdrawal, whereas Tar finds it much more difficult and slips several times, even though he is on methadone. The story ends with Tar having a new girlfriend and seeing Oona occasionally whilst lamenting the life he lost, still craving heroin and still holding onto the hope that Gemma will one day agree to renew their romantic relationship.
Characters in Junk
David 'Tar' Lawson - fourteen years old at the start of the book. Abused by his father, he is never proud of taking drugs but becomes a heroin addict after discovering that the drug helps him forget the abuse he has endured.
Gemma Brogan - Tar's girlfriend, a rebellious fourteen-year old, who runs away with him. She later becomes a prostitute and a heroin addict.
Richard - an anarchist and left-wing activist who helps Gemma and Tar find somewhere to live. He is in his twenties.
Vonny - eighteen-year old anarchist who lives with Richard and Jerry, who ultimately helps Gemma along the path to rehabilitation.
Jerry - boyfriend of Vonny, lives with Richard and Vonny in the squat.
Lily - a fifteen-year old heroin addict who takes a liking to Gemma. She grew up in the care system and it is hinted that she, too, suffered abuse.
Rob - sixteen-year old addict boyfriend of Lily. He has had a transient upbringing.
Sally - a good friend of Lily and Rob, also addicted to heroin.
Mr. and Mrs Brogan - Gemma's parents
Mr. and Mrs Lawson - Tar's parents
Skolly - a tobacconist who introduces Tar to Richard. He later pays for sexual services from Gemma, although he does not realise who she is.
Junk has been adapted for the theatre by John Retallack (published by Methuen ISBN0-413-73840-X). It was also made into a television drama in 1999, as part of the BBC's Scene series for teenagers.
Junk also been revised as of 2003, with the new title of Smack, and it is often used as a thesis basis for drama (GCSE and A level) examinations. [citation needed]
↑ Alternatively, six authors have won the Carnegie Medal for their Guardian Prize-winning books. Professional librarians confer the Carnegie and select the winner from all British children's books. The Guardian newspaper's prize winner is selected by British children's writers, "peers" of the author who has not yet won it, for one children's (age 7+) or young-adult fiction book. Details regarding author and publisher nationality have varied.
Related Research Articles
The Carnegie Medal for Writing, established in 1936, is a British literary award that annually recognises one outstanding new English-language book for children or young adults. It is conferred upon the author by the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals (CILIP), who calls it "the UK's oldest and most prestigious book award for children's writing". CILIP is currently partnered with the audio technology company Yoto in connection with the award.
Junkie: Confessions of an Unredeemed Drug Addict, or Junky, is a 1953 novel by American Beat generation writer William S. Burroughs. The book follows "William Lee" as he struggles with his addiction to morphine and heroin. Burroughs based the story on his own experiences with drugs, and he published it under the pen name William Lee. Some critics view the character William Lee as simply Burroughs himself; in this reading, Junkie is a largely-autobiographical memoir. Others view Lee as a fictional character based on the author.
Mary Noel Streatfeild OBE was an English author, best known for children's books including the "Shoes" books, which were not a series. Random House, the U.S. publisher of the 1936 novel Ballet Shoes (1936), published some of Streatfeild's subsequent children's books using the word "Shoes" in their titles, to capitalize on the popularity of Ballet Shoes; thus Circus Shoes, Party Shoes, Skating Shoes and many more. She won the third annual Carnegie Medal for The Circus Is Coming. She was a member of the historic Streatfeild family.
Melvin Burgess is a British writer of children's fiction. He became famous in 1996 with the publication of Junk, about heroin-addicted teenagers on the streets of Bristol. In Britain, Junk became one of the best-known young adult books of the decade. Burgess won the annual Carnegie Medal from the Library Association, recognising the year's best children's book by a British author. For the 10th anniversary in 2007 it was named one of the top ten Medal-winning works, selected by a panel to compose the ballot for a public election of the all-time favourite.
28 Days is a 2000 American comedy-drama film directed by Betty Thomas and written by Susannah Grant. Sandra Bullock stars as Gwen Cummings, a newspaper columnist obliged to enter rehabilitation for alcoholism. The film costars Viggo Mortensen, Dominic West, Elizabeth Perkins, Azura Skye, Steve Buscemi, and Diane Ladd.
Gridlock'd is a 1997 American black comedy crime film written and directed by Vondie Curtis-Hall, and starring Tupac Shakur, Tim Roth, Lucy Liu and Thandiwe Newton. It was the directorial debut of Curtis-Hall, who also has a small role in the film. The film's opening was relatively low, despite critical acclaim; its opening weekend netted only $2,678,372 and it finished with a little over $5.5 million. Shakur died four months before the film's release.
Purely Belter is a 2000 British comedy drama film directed by Mark Herman about two teenagers trying to get money, by any means necessary, in order to get season tickets for home games of Premier League football team Newcastle United. It is based on the 2000 novel The Season Ticket by Jonathan Tulloch.
Reginald "Bubbles" Cousins is a fictional character on the HBO drama The Wire, played by actor Andre Royo. Bubbles is a recovering heroin addict. His real name is not revealed until a fourth-season episode when he is called "Mr. Cousins" and in the fifth-season premiere when he is called "Reginald". Bubbles has a son named KeyShawn, who lives with his mother. He is nicknamed "Bubbles" because when he is in a heroin-induced stupor, he tends to make bubbles with his spit.
Lucy Benson is a fictional character from the British Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks, played by Kerrie Taylor. Taylor appeared from the first episode on 23 October 1995. Taylor later quit the role with the character leaving in January 2000 when she went travelling. The character's storylines included a heroin addiction. The character has been described as a "good daughter" type who changed becoming a "hopeless addict".
Les Hunter is a fictional character from the British Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks, played by John Graham Davies.
Where the Day Takes You is a 1992 American drama film directed by Marc Rocco. The film stars Sean Astin, Lara Flynn Boyle, Peter Dobson, Balthazar Getty, Ricki Lake, James LeGros, Dermot Mulroney and Will Smith in his film debut. Its plot follows a group of teenage runaways trying to survive on the streets of Los Angeles. The film was released on September 11, 1992.
"Snowbirds Don't Fly" is a two-part anti-drug comic book story arc which appeared in Green Lantern/Green Arrow issues 85 and 86, published by DC Comics in 1971. The story was written by Dennis O'Neil and Neal Adams, with the latter also providing the art with Dick Giordano. It tells the story of Green Lantern and Green Arrow, who fight drug dealers, witnessing that Green Arrow's ward Roy "Speedy" Harper is a drug addict and dealing with the fallout of his revelation. Considered a watershed moment in the depiction of mature themes in DC Comics, the tone of this story is set in the tagline on the cover: "DC attacks youth's greatest problem... drugs!"
Spilled Water is a children's novel by Sally Grindley, published in 2004. It won the Nestlé Children's Book Prize Gold Award and was longlisted for the Carnegie Medal. It tells the story of a Chinese girl, Lu Si-yan, who is sold into domestic service when she is just eleven years old. The story also tells of Lu Si-Yan working as an underaged worker in a factory sweat shop.
Scene is a British television anthology drama/documentary series made by the BBC for teenagers, broadcast from 1968 to 2002. It comprised dramas and documentaries on topical issues, sometimes of a controversial nature, by leading contemporary playwrights including included Willy Russell, Fay Weldon, Tom Stoppard, Alan Plater etc. programmes were originally broadcast to a school audience as part of the BBC Schools strand. Dramas from the series were also regularly broadcast for a wider adult audience.
"Pilot" is the pilot episode and series premiere of the FX television series Sons of Anarchy. It was written by series creator Kurt Sutter, and directed by Alan Coulter and Michael Dinner. It originally aired in the United States on September 3, 2008, and garnered 2.5 million viewers.
Holly Barton is a fictional character from the British ITV soap opera Emmerdale, played by Sophie Powles. She made her first on-screen appearance during the episode broadcast on 17 July 2009. Holly was introduced to the soap as part of the Bartons, a new farming family who took over the running of Butler's Farm. Holly was joined by her mother, father and two siblings. The family were described as being "sexy, modern and contemporary" by the show's series producer, Gavin Blyth. Holly departed on 20 June 2012, but Powles later reprised her role and Holly returned on 24 March 2016 for a six-month stint. The character was killed off on 29 September 2016.
Lanre Fehintola was a British photojournalist. He was a photographer for The Independent from 1989 until 1991. According to Fehintola, his focus has always been "to document the ordinary, everyday, lives of 'real' people whose stories are very seldom told".
The Man Who Died Twice is a 1958 American crime film drama, directed by Joseph Kane and written by Richard C. Sarafian. The film stars Rod Cameron, Vera Ralston, Mike Mazurki, Gerald Milton, Richard Karlan and Louis Jean Heydt. The film was released on June 6, 1958, by Republic Pictures.
Bull is a 2021 British crime thriller film written and directed by Paul Andrew Williams. The film stars Neil Maskell as the titular character seeking revenge on his former gang associates and father-in-law to get his son.
"Next of Kin" is a two-part episode of the British medical drama Casualty that served as the 15th and 16th episodes of the show's twenty-sixth series, and the 796th and 797th episodes overall. The first part premiered on 3 December 2011, and the second on 10 December 2011 on BBC One and BBC One HD in the United Kingdom. Both parts were directed by Simon Massey; part one was written by Patrick Homes and part two by Sally Abbott. "Next of Kin" marks Casualty's final episode to be filmed at their Bristol studios, where the show has been filmed since its conception in 1986, after the BBC decided to move the show to a new studio in Cardiff as part of their plans to expand production outside of England. The move received much opposition from multiple sources, including the cast and parliament.
References
↑ "Junk". Library of Congress Catalog Record. Retrieved 28 July 2012.
1 2 "Smack" (first U.S. edition). LCC record. Retrieved 28 July 2012.
↑ Susan Bickerstaff, "Exploring the Risks in Smack: Risky Stories in Young Adult Literature", Victoria Risko, ed., 57th Yearbook of the National Reading Conference, [U.S.] National Reading Conference, 2008, pp. 107–118. ISBN9781893591097. (ftp copy[permanent dead link] retrieved 2012-07-11)
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
