Joined in 2023 
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63 About this deal
As you can probably tell, I didn't really like this book, and I wouldn't recommend it for you to get it when it is published in October. Soon home in Goodmayes seems like the only place to be, sorrounded by everyone she’s grown up with, people she loves to bits…Can Shiraz give up her dreams? I highly recommend that you, or any teenager or adult you know, join Shiraz in her journey through teenage life, and I apologise if you think these books are way past their sell-by date, I’m just ‘keeping it real’. Besides, as I said before, the strength of this novel looking at the working class in the UK through Shiraz's family. Well if by 'Chav' you mean 'Charming, Hilarious, Articulate and Vibrant', Shizza doesn't mind that at all.
despite never being funny, it is on every week and always has been and always will be until the end of time due to the cast making a pact with Lucifer in 1982 and becoming immortal. But she and her best friend Carrie go to a school frequently referred to as "Superchav Academy" and her mother seems put out by Shiraz' sister, Cava-Sue, who is attempting to better herself by pursuing A-levels at an arts college. She knows she’s going to have to have a few words with Wesley about their future as he’s planning all sorts himself and it isn’t fair. And since I had an ARC, the book only had about five of the British words in the glossary, while the published copy will have a "full glossary of about 12-16 pages.
Her very funny growth realzation that perhaps a life spent working in a factory isn't the best use of her potential is clever and well-done. Fifteen-year-old Shiraz Bailey Wood's days are filled with hanging around outside Claire's Accessories, her parents work crap jobs, and her school is pretty much loser central. Shiraz, Cava-Sue and Murphy are siblings growing up in a rough area of Essex, all attending ‘Superchav Academy’.
As an American reader, I was somewhat confused by the unfamiliar British slang and put off by the poor grammar, although I assume the lingo is part of “keeping it real.
I may not have understood everything she was saying (thankfully there was an English dictionary for all the American cousins) but the girl is bloody brilliant! And while she's mulling that one over her mum Diane drops a massive bombshell on the whole family and Shiraz's life is suddenly turned upside down. She is a presenter on The Culture Show on BBC2 and has recently interviewed Mitchell and Webb and the cast of Gavin and Stacey. Figuring what to do with your life, working through friendships, problems with boys, it’s all in there and humorously done. Shiraz is the kind of kid who has a brain full of words, but isn't challenged or engaged by much in the school department.
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