Softcover

ISBN 10: 0140029524 ISBN 13: 9780140029529

Publisher: Penguin UK, 2004

Billy Casper is a boy with nowhere to go and nothing to say; part of the limbo generation of school leavers too old for lessons and too young to know anything about the outside world. He hates and is hated. His family and friends are mean and tough and they're sure he's going to end up in big trouble. But Billy knows two things about his own world. He'll never work down the mines and he does know about animals. His only companion is his kestrel hawk, trained from the nest, and, like himself, trained but not tamed, with the will to destroy or to be destroyed. This in not just another book about growing up in the north - it's as real as a slap in the face to those who think that orange juice and comprehensive schools have taken the meanness out of life in the raw working towns.

About the Author:

Barry Hines was born in the mining village of Hoyland Common, near Barnsley, South Yorkshire. Educated at Eccelsfield Grammar School, Hines then worked as an apprentice mining surveyor and played football for Barnsley before studying Physical Education at Loughborough Training College. He taught for several years in London and Yorkshire before becoming a full-time writer. Hines has written 8 other novels and television scripts.