Boy A wins World Book Day prize

March 06, 2008

Boy A, the novel by Jonathan Trigell that was recently adapted by Mark O'Rowe as Cuba Pictures' debut production, has won the first 'Book to Talk About' prize on World Book Day, 6 March 2008. The book received 21% of all votes cast for a shortlist of 10 books. The prize is given to novels that readers love but have been overlooked by the mainstream, and Jonathan Trigell receives a £5,000 prize.

Boy A, published by Serpent's Tail, also won the 2004 John Llewellyn Rhys prize. The Channel 4 film produced by Cuba Pictures starred Peter Mullan and Andrew Garfield.

The novel follows the story of Jack, who has spent most of his life in juvenile prisons, having committed a horrific childhood crime. Now aged 24, he is ready to be released from prison, with a new job and a new identity waiting for him. Yet he struggles in an alien adult world of which he has no experience at all.