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| Sally Gardner: A worthy contender |
So Hilary Mantel won the Costa Prize; for which I do not begrudge her -
Bring up the Bodies is a fine novel. But there was one book on the list that I thought deserved a look in.
A tender friendship between two boys; a
dyslexic hero; self-sacrifice; propaganda. These are the ingredients of Sally
Gardner’s moving young adult novel, Maggot Moon.
Young adult fiction is a tricky area: many
see it as a form of escapism, a clichéd place inhabited by sexy vampires who
rip their tops off every other minute, and pale heroines whose only worry is
whom they should marry (hello to you, Stephanie Meyer). A way, in other words,
for teens to avoid serious adult fiction.
Maggot Moon
is not at all like that. It engages with complex, fascinating ideas in an
original manner, and the writing is full of beautiful images. The voice of its
narrator, Standish Treadwell, is absorbing and striking. He is a teenage dyslexic
whose family lives in Zone 7, in a city that is never named (but feels like
London). The year is sometime in the 1950s, and a totalitarian Motherland is in
control of everything. We are in an alternative dystopian England. The term
“dystopia” is bandied around a lot in the young adult world, but here it is
essential to the book: the country itself doesn’t function, suppressing and
eliminating everything that goes against its ideology. Here someone like
Standish – a “dyslexic” – is seen to be odd, even a threat.
Which, as it turns out, he is, to the
Motherland at least – for this apparent outsider will uncover a conspiracy that
is attempting to deceive the entire world. Standish, the apparent freak, will,
in an act of simple but glorious rebellion, set in train events that will bring
the country back into a functioning regime once more. The story has its roots
in the ritual of folklore. It isn’t too much of a stretch to think of the
narrative as a form of the kind of renewal found in the King Arthur cycles –
someone must die to make the country live.
The book’s appeal is therefore manifold.
Teenagers will find Standish’s askew relationship with the world attractive;
adults will find it just as gripping, since it takes its nourishment from such
deep wells of storytelling. It also deals with a male friendship that blossoms
into love in a touching, believable manner, which is a brave and timely thing
to do.
The final message of the book, though, is
the one that resounds the most. The world that we inhabit seems to be operated
by leviathans that exist out of our reach: whether they are uber-rich
individuals, tax-avoiding corporations, or hapless governments, the ordinary
person seems to have very little real power (although we are given the illusion
of it through social media and consumerism.) Maggot Moon shows that it is possible to have a powerful impact as a single
person.
It may not quite be a revolutionary call to
arms – but it is a call to think, to question; and to the lonely soul, making
its way on this hostile planet, it gives the best thing of all: hope.
Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears - I have an announcement to make. This year I have the extremely exciting privilege of being a judge on the Costa Children's Book Award, which last year was won by the excellent Sally Gardner, for her book, Maggot Moon.
A brace of bumptious literary parties last night: the first, in Clerkenwell, for a new children's imprint that will publish books for children and young adults. It is helmed by Sarah Odedina (who was my first editor at Bloomsbury), and looks set to publish its first book later next year, which I look forward to very much indeed. Lots of little mince pies and bucketfulls of champagne made a merry evening in their snazzy, white-painted and wood-floored offices. I spotted The Fool's Girl author Celia Rees, who's got a new, modern-day novel coming out soon, as well as I, Coriander writer Sally Gardner. The place was thrumming with agents and authors as I left, so it all looks set for a rocket-fuelled lift off - very best of luck to Hot Key. 
