Emily Bowyer is a normal, confident teenager – lots of friends, loving family and a good student. But beneath the surface she has a wretched secret.
Because, for Emily, life isn’t as much fun as it would appear. Her friends are going off her and her parents only seem to care about her troubled brother. Plus, she’s expected to complete hours of homework, to excel in her exams, to be the perfect student.
Tension, pressure, anxiety, anger and self-hatred. Where does it go when no one will listen? Emily has found a way to let it all out, a way to cope when life is overwhelming. But it is private. No one must ever find out . . .
RED TEARS is a shocking, extremely well-researched novel about a girl who self-harms. It offers a bold and candid look at a phenomenon that afflicts thousands of Britain’s teenagers. Shortlisted for the Lancashire Book Award
Marsha is fifteen. She and her friend Faith regularly go out looking for a good time, which more often than not involves sex, sometimes with boys they don’t know very well. Both from broken homes, they don’t see anything wrong with the way they behave. Until one day Marsha boasts that she could get any boy into bed. Faith bets her £50 that she can’t pull Rich, the quiet one from their own year. Marsha is sure she can win – after all, all boys are all the same, aren’t they?
But Rich isn’t. Unsure, and from a loving family, he finds Marsha a bit too full on. Marsha soon realises she’s going to have to change her tactics. But being with Rich is like being with a friend – one who listens to her and asks her opinion. Rich makes her feel that she’s worth more than a quick shag in the park. But is it possible to change?
Meanwhile, Marsha and Faith have taken new girl Beth under their wing. Beth is innocent and inexperienced, but her new best friends are determined to change all that…
Screwed examines the question of peer pressure, family and their influence on identity. It also takes a frank look at the all-too-common social problem of underage sex and its consequences.
Jo Cotterill 