Book Giveaway: Lottery Boy

[EmilyMumsnet]

This week we're giving away 50 copies of Lottery Boy, the powerful and assured YA novel from debut author Michael Byrne.

Bully is 12 years old, homeless and holding his mother's dying gift - a winning lottery ticket. But there's a catch: he only has five days to battle his way through the London underworld in order to claim the money.

Click here to find out more and apply for your free copy.

Don't forget, if you're lucky enough to receive a free copy, we do ask that you tell us what you think about it on the thread below or in our book reviews section

This giveaway is sponsored by Walker Books

My copy arrived today - I'm looking forward to reading it!

I've tried several times and I just can't get into this book. The character just doesn't interest me, so I'm not overly interested in finding out what happens. Which is a shame as the premise and the description made me think this would be a good read for me.

I finished the book last night.
The writing style was good and easy to read (I find it hard to read books with bad grammar) and I thought the character was very well written.
I liked the premise of the book and thought the deadline was plausible with the death of Bully's mother and the card.
I didn't think that the genre was quite right. It seemed to jump between young adult and thriller with some graphic content.
The ending was fairly unbelievable which was disappointing given that the novel had so much promise.
Overall, I thought the idea was good but that the author should have written it for adults rather than 'young adults' and could have potentially made it even more gritty.

I liked this book, I love the character of the boy, down on his luck, then everything about to change, a good little story, worth a read.

Just finished this book. It's really and adventure story about a boy called Bully being homeless on the streets of London. Lots of twists and turns and good character development. I loved the relationship Bully had with his dog. At times it was a bit slow and I did flick through a few pages to 'move it on'!
I did like the book, but wondered if I should 'ENJOY' a story about homelessness. However, as a first book from writer Michael Byrne, it was very accomplished. I look forward to more of his books.

This is not the kind of book I like - far too gritty and depressing. So it's a credit to the author that I have just read it in one go, way past my bedtime! I thought it was well-written and compelling; I really wanted to know whether he would get the money and had to keep reading. The ending was unrealistic, as a previous poster said, but it was the kind of ending I wanted - a happy one. The main character felt very believable and quite likeable underneath the emotional armour he had built up. In summary, a good book - but I would be very careful about giving it to a young adult, despite that age group being the target readership, as it is really grim at times.

I have just finished this book. I have to say I enjoyed it but it was quite graphic in parts and probably more of an adult book as opposed to a young adult book.
The character was a boy, down on his luck whose fortune changed when he checked his late mother's lottery ticket to find out it was a winner of a big prize. It describes his journey across London by foot with his trusty dog Jack.
I thought it was written well and I wanted to dip into it each night to read a few more chapters.
I felt that the ending was a little disappointing when I had been on the edge of my seat during the story.
All in all a good read but not for sensitive young adults as it may give them nightmares!

I've just finished the book and have to say it was a bit of a tough read, it's quite grim in parts and certainly not a bedtime read. I found the book well written even though I felt the story just wasn't for me.

Thanks for the book, though not the type I would normally go for I found it strangely addictive. Rather dark in parts and not light holiday reading but if your looking for something different give it a try.

I thought this was a good read and was well targeted for young adults who maybe have never thought about being homeless. It could have been more gruesome and I felt it would have been more graphic and less simplistic about coping with homelessness had it been written for an adult fiction audience
As a mother and an adult I found the boys behaviour frustrating as he made such poor choices when it came to trusting people and I was glad he found a better home in the end

Thank you for letting me review this book. It is not a book I would normally go for, but I was pleasantly surprised. It is extremely well written and had a gripping storyline.

It is about a boy and his dog whose mother dies and his mum’s last present to him before she died was a lottery ticket which turns out to be a winning ticket. This story is about his journey to claim the lottery prize. I think it is primarily aimed at the teenage/young adult market but I found it enjoyable, even though it was slightly depressing in places.

It gave me an insight to a world I barely knew before. After reading the book I would not walk past the homeless people in the streets of London without looking at them and judging not knowing the full story. It is a sad story of a little boy with no parents trying to survive from the dangerous of living in the streets hoping for a better life now that he won the lottery. Or maybe not!

I was picked my MNHQ to review this book, which I received for free. This review is in my own words and reflects my true opinion

Not the type of book I would usually pick up but I really enjoyed it. Really liked the story & it kepts me hooked & I read it quickly.

I was pleased to have received a free copy of this book - I'm a KS2 teacher and am always being asked to recommend books so I enjoy being able to get my hands on newly published books.

Lottery Boy is a gritty book that pulls no punches when it comes to depicting the utter misery of feeling completely alone in the world, the vulnerability of being a young boy living on the streets and how depressingly easy it is for a child to fall out of the systems designed to keep them safe.

Bully has found himself in a horrible situation where he's become adult before his time whilst retaining the naivety of the 12-year-old he really is. His race against time is illustrated by a clock counting down the number of days/hours until his lottery ticket expires....the lottery ticket that fell out of a birthday card from his dying mother.

The idea of the National Lottery and its age restrictions are so central to the story that I wondered how relevant a read it might be for a child for whom the Lottery is a bit of a mystery. I needn't have worried; my 10-year-old DD devoured it and had no problem getting her head around the lottery details. There are countless themes explored in this story; friendship, family, trust, ethics, animal cruelty to name but a few. The inclusion of violence, weapons and the harsh descriptions of a life on London's streets doesn't make for an easy read but it feels like an honest one. I'd recommend it to children aged 10+ who are fairly streetwise but I don't think it's a book I'd read to a class of children at school.

Thanks for letting me read and review this book. I have passed it on to my dd 14 years, but she hasn't read it yet.

An interesting book, very different to what we usually read. I thoroughly enjoyed it though. An eye opener, definitely. Certainly not light reading, but once I'd started reading it I couldn't put it down. I think my dd will enjoy it once she starts reading it, but at the moment she's a bit daunted because it's so different to what she usually reads.

Just finished this book about bully and his dog Jack
Not my usual read - it was good, however I did find myself skim reading pages. Nice story, with grit.