A Waste of Good Paper - Softcover

'Utterly heartbreaking ... But I also found myself laughing out loud at the brutal honesty in the journal ... I loved the book.'

'This is a very funny book, capturing a compelling teenage voice, and unfolding an ultimately heart-warming story of how broken families can mend.'

 'A moving, first person story that captures the frustrations and pent-up fury of a boy with a lot of problems... Jason’s journal portrays a journey from despair to hope for a better life ahead.'

A very funny, yet moving, novel.

Gritty and emotional

The story of Jason, a boy at Heronford School for children with emotional and behavioural difficulties. The journal tells of the comic and sometimes uncomfortable day to day events at the school, with Jason, his teachers and classmates. And it explores his family life with his mother, who has recently given up taking heroin, and her violent, drug-taking ex-boyfriend, who returns unexpectedly. And then there is the storyteller who works at the school. He tells the boys the Russian folktale of a young man with a faithful horse, who overcomes a manipulative king. Jason is searingly, touchingly honest about his life and relationships, and through his journal he begins to reach an understanding of himself.

This is a brilliant debut teenage novel, to be compared with The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time.