Pigeon English

by Stephen Kelman

OMG!  I thought the previous book I read, Jamrach's Menagerie, was brutal.  The ending of this book also hits you in the gut.

The book is also one of the finalists for the Booker Prize and certainly deserves the honour.  It is the story of a Ghanaian boy, Harri, who is living in England with his mother and sister.  They escaped Ghana to get away from the situations there.  They have left the father of the family, a baby daughter and grandmother in Ghana.  They are hoping to bring them to England soon.

The boy (Harri) is living in a tenement building where there are a lot of gangs operating.  They try to woo him into a life of crime but the boy keeps bumbling his way along, avoiding being initated into the dark side.  He is revelling in discovering what first love is like.  He has a pigeon that he is feeding and trying to  befriend.  The pigeon occasionally has something to say in the story.

A boy is killed in the neighbourhood and Harri and a friend decide that they will use the sleuthing techniques that the friend has learned by watching American crime shows to solve the murder.  Sadly they come too close to the truth and Harri pays the price...

The book was sweet, poignant and very touching-- Harri's sense of wonder and curiousity were lovely and comical at tiimes.  However the book also portrayed the violence and brutality that can exist in ghettos.  Even the boys aunt and mother are involved with criminals (though in different ways).

I was really rooting for the young boy and was devastated by the ending of the book.   Perhaps if the boy hadn't sacrificied his alligator "charm" for his baby sisters healthy recovery, he would have been protected... or would he?