''Boy A'' is the

debut novel A debut novel is the first novel a novelist publishes. Debut novels are often the author's first opportunity to make an impact on the publishing industry, and thus the success or failure of a debut novel can affect the ability of the author to p ...

Jonathan Trigell Jonathan Trigell is a British author. His Debut novel, first novel, ''Boy A'', won the John Llewellyn Rhys Prize 2004, the Waverton Good Read Award and the inaugural World Book Day Prize in 2008. Jonathan completed an MA in creative writing at Ma ...

, which was first published in 2004.

Premise

The book is the story of a child criminal released into society as an adult, taking its title from the court practice of concealing the identity of child defendants and child killers.

Success

Published by

Serpent's Tail Serpent's Tail is London-based independent publishing firm founded in 1986 by Pete Ayrton. It specialises in publishing work in translation, particularly European crime fiction. In January 2007, it was bought by a British publisher Profile Book ...

in English speaking countries, the novel has been translated into French under the title ''Jeux d'Enfants'' published by Gallimard and also into Chinese, Russian, Dutch and Spanish. It won the 2004

John Llewellyn Rhys Prize The John Llewellyn Rhys Prize was a literary prize awarded annually for the best work of literature (fiction, non-fiction, poetry, drama) by an author from the Commonwealth aged 35 or under, written in English and published in the United Kingdom ...

and the 2005

Waverton Good Read Award The Waverton Good Read Award was founded in 2003 by villagers in Waverton, Cheshire, Waverton, Chester, England, and is based on ''Le Prix de la Cadière d'Azur'', a literary prize awarded by a Provence, Provençal village. Adult debut novels writ ...

. On World Book Day (UK) 2008, ''Boy A'' was voted the most discussion-worthy novel by a living writer in the ''Spread The Word'' poll.

Television adaptation

The book was adapted into a

BAFTA award The British Academy Film Awards, more commonly known as the BAFTA Film Awards is an annual award show hosted by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) to honour the best British and international contributions to film. The cer ...

-winning

TV movie A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie or TV film/movie, is a feature-length film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a television network, in contrast to theatrical films made for ...

that was released theatrically in some areas. The film was made by

Cuba Pictures Curtis Brown is a literary and talent agency based in London, UK. One of the oldest literary agencies in Europe, it was founded by Albert Curtis Brown in 1899. It is part of The Curtis Brown Group of companies. History Albert Curtis Brown was a ...

and written by

Mark O'Rowe Mark O'Rowe is an Irish playwright and screenwriter. Life Mark O'Rowe was born in 1970 in Dublin, Ireland, to parents Hugh and Patricia O'Rowe (to whom he dedicated his 1999 play, ''Howie the Rookie''). He grew up in Tallaght, a working class s ...

, and premiered at the 2007

Toronto International Film Festival The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF, often stylized as tiff) is one of the largest publicly attended film festivals in the world, attracting over 480,000 people annually. Since its founding in 1976, TIFF has grown to become a perman ...

. It was directed by John Crowley and starred

Andrew Garfield Andrew Russell Garfield (born 20 August 1983) is an English and American actor. He has received various accolades, including a Tony Award, a BAFTA TV Award and a Golden Globe Award, in addition to nominations for two Academy Awards. ''Time' ...

(who won the 2008 Best Actor BAFTA TV Award for his performance),

Peter Mullan Peter Mullan (; born 2 November 1959) is a Scottish actor and filmmaker. He is best known for his role in Ken Loach's ''My Name Is Joe'' (1998), for which he won Best Actor Award at 1998 Cannes Film Festival, 2000's '' The Claim'' and all th ...

and

Katie Lyons Katie Lyons (born 18 August 1981 in Southampton) is an English actress, most noted for her performance as Naughty Rachel in the Channel 4 sitcom ''Green Wing''. She has also appeared in '' Doc Martin'', ''The Bill'', ''EastEnders'', ''The Cathe ...

. The film was released cinematically in the US by the

Weinstein Company The Weinstein Company (usually credited or abbreviated as TWC) was an American independent film studio, founded in New York City by Bob and Harvey Weinstein in March 2005. TWC was one of the largest mini-major film studios in North America prior ...

on 23 July 2008.

Similarities with the James Bulger case

The book and film share several similarities with the notorious murder of James Bulger at the hands of two ten-year-old boys in 1993. Jonathan Trigell has said that the character of Jack/Eric is actually based on a childhood friend of his who had struggled with life outside prison after serving a lengthy sentence (although not, as the writer states, for murder). Trigell has however admitted that the media frenzy surrounding the Bulger murderer's release at the time the novel was written did serve as an influence of sorts on the book.

References

External links

Book review
from The Independent newspaper.

of Trigell describing the novel.
Report
of Boy A winning the World Book Day Prize in The Guardian newspaper. * 2004 British novels Social realism British novels adapted into films John Llewellyn Rhys Prize-winning works 2004 debut novels Serpent's Tail books {{2000s-crime-novel-stub