Long Way Down

SHORTLISTED for the CILIP Carnegie Medal, WINNER of the UKLA

'A masterpiece from beginning to end.' Angie Thomas, author of The Hate U Give

AND THEN THERE WERE SHOTS
Everybody
ran,
ducked,
hid, tucked
themselves tight.

Pressed our lips to the
pavement and prayed
the boom, followed by
the buzz of a bullet,
didn't meet us.

After Will's brother is shot in a gang crime, he knows the next steps. Don't cry. Don't snitch. Get revenge. So he ...