Mind the Gap

By Phil Earle

Powerful drama of love, loss, family and friendship from a superstar of UK children’s and YA fiction, inspired by a tremendously moving true story.

When Mikey's dad died, something in Mikey died too. He loved his old man and he never stopped dreaming that one day his dad would land the role of a lifetime, prove them all wrong, and rock back up to the estate in the flashiest car anyone had ever seen. Now there's just numbness, and not caring, and really, really stupid decisions. He says the worst of it is that he can't evenremember his dad's voice any more. Eventually Mikey's best mate can't bear it any more, and so he sets out to give Mikey the memories – and his dad's voice – back.

• Language: English
• Publisher: HarperCollins UK
• Release date: Jun 2, 2022
• ISBN: 9781800901889

Phil Earle

PHIL EARLE was born and raised in Hull and kick-started his love of books with a job as a children's bookseller. Phil now works in children’s publishing and is the award-winning author of several books for young readers including Get Me Out of Here, a recent collaboration with Andy McNab, and the young adult novels Being Billy, and Mind the Gap. Phil's When the Sky Falls was Waterstones Children's Book of the Month for June 2021.

Book preview

"It’s the Trainspotting of the YA world, but without actual swearing or hard drugs, just references to four-letter words, cans of cider and punch-ups."    THE TIMES, CHILDREN’S BOOK OF THE WEEK

"As always, the mighty Phil Earle has written a wonderful story that does exactly what a story should do – it stays with you, it becomes part of you. Tough, funny and incredibly moving, it’s a book that you’ll read in one sitting, but remember for the rest of your life. From the very first word to the final full stop, Mind The Gap is an absolute gem."   KEVIN BROOKS, AUTHOR OF THE BUNKER DIARY

"Mind The Gap expresses the true nature of friendship in a convincing and heartfelt manner. It lingers long after you’ve finished. It leaves you longing for family and hankering for friends old and new. You’ll love it!"   BRIAN CONAGHAN, AUTHOR OF WHEN MR DOG BITES

Male friendship is portrayed in a way we seldom see in YA: intense and emotionally charged, but also warm and deeply loyal.   THE BOOKSELLER

It is a staggering, emotional, punch-drunk anthem to friendship and loss. It’s funny and tender and raw all at once … FIVE STARS.   WATERSTONES, REVIEWER

For Zoe, who I hope knows why …

Contents

Title Page

Dedication

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

Copyright

1

It’s hard to sound tough when someone’s hand is round your throat.

I did try, but I ended up sounding more like a choirboy than the gangster I was aiming for.

Mikey didn’t bother with the tough guy act, but he didn’t look scared either. He wore the same lifeless expression that he’d pinned onto his face three months ago, never letting it slip since. Not once. Not even for me.

How we’d got to this point I had no idea. Actually that’s not true. I knew the how, what I was clueless about was the why.

There were some things you didn’t do on our estate. Steal off your own, get off with your mates’ sisters (regardless of how tidy they were), and you certainly didn’t get up in Trev Walker’s grill.

Now, I didn’t have anything worth nicking, not since my grandad’s old watch broke, and I doubted Mikey wanted to try it on with my brother – not with the spots that riddled Leo’s skin like a furious dot-to-dot puzzle. But for some reason, today was the day that my best mate decided it was a good idea to hack off the biggest psycho this side of town.

Everyone knew who Trev was.

Everyone had at least one story they could tell about him. How he stole their car, robbed their house, or got their cousin pregnant. I wouldn’t mind, but Trev was only fifteen like me and Mikey.

OK, some of the stories were the stuff of legend, passed from mouth to mouth to mouth until they were as bent as a nose that Trev had punched. But we all knew enough about Trev to realise that you still didn’t mess. Hell, you didn’t even make eye contact unless he made it first. And if he did make eye contact? Well, it generally meant trouble. Or pain. Or both.

So it was a mystery to me why Mikey had chosen to shoulder bump Trev. And not the sort of mystery that Scooby Doo or Sherlock Holmes would dare to tackle. Not if they liked their faces arranged as they were.

Interesting decision, Trev whispered to Mikey. His face was a perfect pit bull snarl. I’d have thought this path was wide enough for us all. But if it’s not, then you should cross the road before trying to get past me.

Trev didn’t speak like your traditional meat-head. He’d watched so many of his dad’s gangster movies that he tried to talk like one of the mob. Maybe he thought that if he was calm and polite at

Reviews for Mind the Gap

[mnorfolk49 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Enjoyed this, albeit about a sad event and the aftermath, and also found it useful to give to my 11yo to read; an insight for him into a range of things- death; friendship as a teenager; how teenage boys might behave; trust; taking risks, etc.