Outlaws - E L Norry

Three friends, three different circumstances but all three looking for one thing: friendship.  Will is trying cope as a carer for his mum whilst also looking after his younger brothers.  Scarlet is in foster care and is desperate to stay where she is.  Robyn is living with her grandfather, helping him in his bike shop whilst her dad is working in Italy; she's just starting at this school and wants nothing more than to keep her head down. However, when the new head starts acting erratically and like a power-crazed monster, the three friends wonder what's going on. Together the they decide it's time to help those in need.

Outlaws is told in triple narrative to really give you an insight to the lives of each main character and it makes for effective reading.  

For different reasons Will, Scarlet and Robyn are scared that aspects of their home lives will be discovered. They worry about saying too much and everything coming crashing down around them. With their headteacher being so discriminatory, picking on the most vulnerable kids in school, they feel they have no choice but to accept what's happening to them (when you read the book, you will understand why the head is somebody I wanted to punch in the nose for so many reasons). But as things get worse, they realise they have no choice but to find a way to help those who need it the most.  I know Will, Scarlet and Robyn meet in after-school detention, but they are good kids just trying to do everything they can to make things right. 

Publishing on the 2nd July, Outlaws is a story about acceptance in so many different forms: accepting yourself, accepting those who are different to you, accepting that it's ok to get things wrong at times.  It's about friendship, being strong, standing up for yourself and searching for justice.