Shortlisted for Children’s Book Award 2016, Books for Older Readers category - Shortlisted for the Waterstone's Best Fiction for Teens Award 2015 - June 2014 Debut of the Month
Kieran watches the world carefully. He’s good at noticing things that others don’t which makes him an excellent detective. Born with learning difficulties and living with a violent stepfather, Kieran has a lot to contend with but his inner resilience gives him great strength as he sets out to solve some of the many mysterious that are intertwined around his life.
Shortlisted for the Waterstones Children's Book Prize, the Federation of Children's Book Groups Prize and longlisted for the 2015 Carnegie Medal, Kim Slater's outstanding debut, Smart, is moving and compelling novel with a loveable character at its heart. 'I found Jean's friend dead in the river. His name was Colin Kirk. He was a homeless man, but he still wanted to live.'
There's been a murder, but the police don't care. It was only a homeless old man after all.
Kieran cares. He's made a promise, and when you say something out loud, that means you're going to do it, for real. He's going to find out what really happened. To Colin. And to his grandma, who just stopped coming round one day. It's a good job Kieran's a master of observation, and knows all the detective tricks of the trade.
But being a detective is difficult when you're Kieran Woods. When you're amazing at drawing but terrible at fitting in. And when there are dangerous secrets everywhere, not just outside, but under your own roof.
It's painful to see how Kieran is treated, but heart-warming when people realise what he is capable of and how he doesn't hold the prejudices against other people as most of us might do. Smart leaves you with the hope that this realisation will extend beyond Kieran and will soon become a part of everyday life transatlanticbibliophilia.blogspot.co.uk
Sometimes you don't know what you want to read until it's in your hands. Smart should be in your hands. Lorna Duncanson, Seven Stories Centre for Children’s Books
Kieran is brave, charming, smart and a delight to get to know. Such a stand out must read. Carly, Book Blogger, Fiction Fascination
Author
About Kim Slater
Kim Slater honed her storytelling skills as a child, writing macabre tales specially designed to scare her younger brother! Taking her literary inspiration from everyday life, Kim's debut novel, Smart, has won ten regional prizes and been shortlisted for over twenty regional and national awards, including the Waterstones Children's Book Prize and the Federation of Children's Book Groups Prize. Smart was also longlisted for the 2015 Carnegie Medal. Kim lives in Nottingham with her husband and has one grown-up daughter.
