Pigeon English

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Photograph: Lorna Roach for the Observer Don't believe the hype: a tale of gang warfare on a south London estate.

Recently emigrated from Ghana with his sister and mother to London’s enormous housing projects, Harri is pure curiosity and ebullience—obsessed with gummy candy, a friend to the pigeon who visits his balcony, quite possibly the fastest runner in his school, and clearly also fast on the trail of a murderer. I can understand why some complained about this (among others) being on the Booker Prize shortlist, because honestly, it's not on that level at all - although the author may be, someday. Auntie Sonia is Harri’s aunt (presumably on Mamma’s side, although this is never explicitly specified). Or maybe what made this novel more significant for me was the fact that while reading I thought of the struggles of many Filipino children who were brought by their parents overseas.In this quotation, Harri's friend Altaf explains that Spiderman, his favorite superhero, was not born with superpowers but was chosen by God, or rather bitten by a spider, which empowered him to fight crime. While Dean and Harri are playing football, Dean finds a wallet, inside of which is a photo of the dead boy smiling with a white girl. A member of Dance Club, Lydia befriends Miquita and Chanelle and enjoys normal adolescent behaviors, like gossiping and watching television dramas.

Being from Ghana and still a child, Hari is vulnerable to the world of a child near teen as well as the world of a visible immigrant. About a third of the way in I just starting skipping the pigeon's narrative portions (which is easily done as they appear in italics).He keeps busy playing crazy made-up games with his chums (like Suicide Bomber, Zombie, and one that involves throwing rocks at buses for hella points) barely staying out of trouble, and kinda half-way dreaming of being able to front with the local bad-ass gang. Kelman captures the voice and internal logic of an eleven-year old boy and Harri’s narrative is sincere, comical, and heartfelt. Pigeon English, which draws heavily on the killing of 10-year-old Damilola Taylor on a Peckham estate in 2000, weaves this suffering into a murder-mystery of sorts. Similarly, the defaced sign shows that rules, expectations, and norms are established by authority figures (governments and business owners), as well as ordinary people.

Despite Harri's proximity to violence and crime, he enjoys many essential childhood experiences, like dating a girl ( Poppy Morgan), learning fascinating facts about science, and spending quality time with his family.For example, when the Dell Farm Crew say they have a “job” for Harri, he says that he doesn’t need a job, not realizing that X-Fire is assigning him a task as a trial for whether Harri can join their group.