When I was Joe Review

With the release of Another Life on 6^th September I wanted to read When I was Joe which has been on my ‘to read’ list since its release! When I was Joe won the Lancashire Book of the Year award in 2011 and I am pleased to say, it did not disappoint!

Title: When I was Joe

Author: Keren David

Release date: 7^th January 2010

Publisher: Frances Lincoln Children’s Books

It’s one thing watching someone get killed. It’s quite another talking about it.

But Ty does talk about it. He names some ruthless people and a petrol-bomb attack forces him and his mum into hiding under police protection.

Shy loser Ty gets a new name, a new look and a cool new image. Life as Joe is good. But the gangsters will stop at nothing to silence him. And then he meets a girl with a dangerous secret of her own.

Ty has witnessed something awful. When he tells the police, things only becomes more horrific as he and his mum have to go into witness protection after his life is threatened. Becoming Joe is strange and Ty’s mum is struggling to deal with their new life. But Ty finds he quite likes being popular Joe.

However, how long can Ty’s perfect life as Joe last when he can’t control his temper and how long will it be before the gangsters track him down?

I really really enjoyed this book. It offers comedy in the form of Ty’s humour and his mum’s young behaviour (I literally laughed out loud when she texted him with ‘wtf’). However, the book has a very serious back bone and I became emotionally involved with Ty and his ‘friend’ Claire. What Ty and his mum go through is truly awful. Not only are they constantly surrounded by the threat of violence from those Ty has accused but their everyday world is turned upside down too.

 Ty’s mum is studying for a degree with the Open University and doesn’t know if her credits can be transferred now that she has a new name. I know how hard my mum is working for her own Open University degree and something as simple as this revealed a new sense of the day to day difficulties of becoming someone else.  It was these little details that made the story totally believable and immersed me in the narrative.

Ty/Joe is a brilliant character. He attempts to withdraw himself emotionally from what is happening but finds that his emotions vent themselves in other ways. Keren David has created a character with lots of depth and I actually felt like I was delving into the mind of a teenage boy.

The reader is drip fed details of the crime that Ty witnessed and this made me want to continue reading to find out what had happened. Throughout the book I came to different conclusions as to what had happened and all were wrong! David’s withholding of information also offers different dimensions to Ty’s character as it is gradually revealed the extent of Ty’s involvement in the crime.

I’ve ordered a copy of Almost True (the second book in this series) from my local library and the first chapter was included at the back of this book but I didn’t want to get hooked before my copy came! An absolutely fantastic book, suitable for anyone who likes brilliant YA literature.

5/5 Give it a go if you haven’t already!