''Breaktime'' is a

young adult novel Young adult fiction (YA) is a category of fiction written for readers from 12 to 18 years of age. While the genre is primarily targeted at adolescents, approximately half of YA readers are adults. The subject matter and genres of YA correlate ...

Aidan Chambers Aidan Chambers (born 27 December 1934) is a British author of children's and young-adult novels. He won both the British Carnegie Medal and the American Printz Award for ''Postcards from No Man's Land'' (1999). For his "lasting contribution t ...

. The book follows Ditto who debates with his friend Morgan about the value of literature, but has to retreat for a week to sort things out. The novel has been described as "famous for its unique narrative style and sexual content",Aidan Chambers' "Breaktime": Class Conflict and Anxiety in the Work of a Scholarship-Boy Writer
by Haru Takiuchi; ''Children's Literature in Education'', v47 n1 p36-49 Mar 2016 and its narrative techniques have been compared to those of

James Joyce James Augustine Aloysius Joyce (2 February 1882 – 13 January 1941) was an Irish novelist, poet, and literary critic. He contributed to the modernist avant-garde movement and is regarded as one of the most influential and important writers of ...

's ''

Ulysses Ulysses is one form of the Roman name for Odysseus, a hero in ancient Greek literature. Ulysses may also refer to: People * Ulysses (given name), including a list of people with this name Places in the United States * Ulysses, Kansas * Ulysse ...

''.Reviews 2010: Reading the Novels of Aidan Chambers: Seven Essays
by Lydia Kokkola; at the International Research Society for Children's Literature; published 2010

Reception

Kirkus Reviews ''Kirkus Reviews'' (or ''Kirkus Media'') is an American book review magazine founded in 1933 by Virginia Kirkus (1893–1980). The magazine is headquartered in New York City. ''Kirkus Reviews'' confers the annual Kirkus Prize to authors of fic ...

'' praised "the ease with which Chambers adapts

modernist Modernism is both a philosophical and arts movement that arose from broad transformations in Western society during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The movement reflected a desire for the creation of new forms of art, philosophy, an ...

experimental techniques and

post-modernist Postmodernism is an intellectual stance or mode of discourseNuyen, A.T., 1992. The Role of Rhetorical Devices in Postmodernist Discourse. Philosophy & Rhetoric, pp.183–194. characterized by skepticism toward the " grand narratives" of moderni ...

plays on the conventions of fiction to an accessible YA level", and noted that Ditto was a "candid reporter, alert and responsive come-what-may".BREAKTIME by Aidan Chambers
reviewed at ''

''; published March 1, 1979

References

1978 British novels British young adult novels Novels set in England The Bodley Head books {{1970s-ya-novel-stub