Stealing Happy

Thirteen-year-old Sonny has a lot to deal with: his dad is suffering from long Covid and he hates having to see his mum struggle to pay the bills. On top of this, having Tourette’s syndrome brings its own challenges, as Sonny is constantly fighting the intrusive voices in his head. When he discovers his mum is in debt to loan shark Chick Lennon, who terrorises the whole community, Sonny’s fragile world seems to be on the brink of collapse. But Sonny is resourceful: he’s smart and brave and he has good friends in Jonah and the wonderfully named (and wonderfully clever) Carolina Swift. Together they come up with an audacious plan to pay off the debt with Lennon’s own ill-gotten gains. After all, how hard can it be to outwit ‘man mountain’ Archie Burns, the ‘boss of [Lennon’s] youth wing’? 

Pretty hard, of course, or there wouldn’t be a story! And what a story it is – family drama; a heist; romp; insight into a resilient community ruled by fear; and above all, a celebration of friendship. Sonny is an endearing narrator, and the first-person present narrative tense takes the reader right into his sometimes exhausting, but always entertaining inner life.

Gritty, warm and ultimately hopeful, Stealing Happy is Brian Conaghan at his excellent best.