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Night riders ISBN: 9781842700228
Roberts, Mark
Published by Andersen Press, 2001
When William moves into Stanley's cul-de-sac, Stanley is delighted. Both boys are 14, and both have Down's Syndrome. Stanley is skinny, fearful, and artistic, and William is very big and can't speak very clearly, but there is immediate imaginative rapport between the two. When they hear that a dolphin in Florida is going to be used for experiments, they decide they must save Amadeus. Because of their relative immaturity, they set about this in not very realistic ways, the final attempt being to rob a building society for the money to take them to America. With their ill gotten gains, they end up on a train to Washington - not DC, but County Durham! When they are caught, it is decided not to press charges because their motives were good. The strength of this unusual story lies in the relationship of the two boys, the humour they share, their belief in each other, their child-like trust in what they are doing, and the difficulties they must face, both from a particularly nasty bully, and from Stanley's sometimes wild imagination. The poetic language can be a tad hard to follow in the beginning, but perseverance will repay.
Age: 10+