Careless is a beautifully written novel by Carnegie shortlisted author Anne Cassidy. Anne is brilliant at understanding and writing about important topics and issues that are very relevant to many teenagers. Here in Careless the issue of loss and trust are interwoven into the life of two very different teenagers. It is immensely powerful, thoughtful and thought-provoking, the characterisation is spot on and and the friendships forged are brilliantly portrayed. Anne Cassidy has also written the equally good The Story of my Life.
As Chloe Cozens mourns the death of her mother, Lesley, teenage 'delinquent' Nicky Nelson experiences quite a different emotion towards her, his social worker, the one person he thought he could rely on when everyone else had let him down. Lesley Cozens wrote Nicky a letter before she died, the contents of which the reader does not know until much later in the novel, but the letter triggers a rage in Nicky that could have had tragic consequences if Chloe had not got involved. When Nicky begins hanging around Chloe's house with a mixture of curiosity and anger that she has had a happy life compared with his, he is prepared to hate her, but instead the two of them form a strange kind of bond. Chloe is her mother's daughter, and finds herself wanting to help Nicky find his real mother, the one who abandoned him at birth. Ironically, the clues she pieces together about what happened lead her back to her mother's home town, and to her childhood friend, Sonia, who is keeping a painful secret of her own. She is Nicky's mother. Chloe finds comfort in helping Nicky, a boy who is almost like a brother in that her own mother looked out for him for so long, and Nicky discovers that sometimes you have to trust in people in order to move on and build a life...
Anne Cassidy lives in Essex. She was a teacher for twenty years. Her first book was published in 1991 and she has since published over twenty teen novels. She is the author of Looking for JJ, which was shortlisted for the Whitbread Award 2004 and the Carnegie Medal 2005 and won the 2004 Booktrust Teenage Book Award.
As a crime writer, inspiration for Anne’s books often comes from news stories of teen crime. Anne is also interested in the philosophical aspect of murder. She says, ‘People take great delight in reading Crime Fiction. Why is this? We live in a modern liberal society which abhors the death penalty yet we soak up murder stories in print and on television. So I asked myself the question is it ever right to murder? Are there any circumstances that make murder the preferable option?’
Anne's 'Ten things I want you to know about me' When I was a baby I slept in a drawer for six weeks. My parents assure me that they never actually closed it.
I was an only child until I was fourteen. Then I had a baby brother and sister. I usually blame all of my insecurities and low self esteem on them. They’re not bothered as far as I know.
I was one of the first people in the country to have plastic surgery on the NHS. I had my ears pinned back. When I came out of the operating theatre my whole head was bandaged up and my mum said she thought I’d had brain surgery.
When I was a child me and my mum and dad went everywhere together. I sat in the back of the car and sang along with all their songs. My mum was a dressmaker and made herself a dress and a miniature version of the same thing for me. I loved it as a child. As soon as I became a teenager I hated it. My dad was a great fan of horse racing. He had a number of pens that he used to choose his horses. Some were lucky, others were not. He used to put them behind his ear for safety.
I went to a girl’s convent high school. My best friends were the most important people in my life. Sometimes they went off with someone else and it broke my heart. I always took them back. I had no pride.
I was hopeless in school. I couldn’t be bothered doing any work at all. I used to sit at the back of the classroom and draw profiles of beautiful women on my rough book. And sign my name over and over again. My teachers gave up on me.
I wore the shortest mini skirts that I could find. I also wore wigs and false eyelashes and thigh length boots. I was tacky.
I worked in a bank for five years. I cut coupons from bonds and presented them to other banks for payment. I sat beside a hatch window and had to open it to deal with enquiries. If I had a pound for every time someone started with A cup of tea and a cheese roll I’d be rich (even now, all these years later).
My son never reads any of my books. Even though he’s a character in a lot of them. He prefers to read real life stuff about the Mafia.
My husband reads all of my books. He says he likes them but he would say that, wouldn’t he?
