The Edge Alan Gibbons Worksheet
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1 The Edge Alan Gibbons Can a brutal killer be a hero? Danny’sMum hastoget awayfrom Londontoescapetrouble. And where his Mum goes Danny has to follow. Thus he ends up on the grim, hostile Edgecliff Estate, a small community on the edge of a small town. Perhaps Danny would have managed to cope with the move if he was white. But he is mixed race with a white mother and a black father. The Edgecliff Estate is almost exclusively white and has more than its fair share of racists. And not only does Danny have to deal with the racist taunts and abuse of kids at his new school, he also has to deal with the prejudice of his grandfather, Harry. This is an unflinching examination of life on the edge both literally and metaphorically as Dannyandhismotherlive alifeona knife’sedge ontheedge of society. Gripping and edgy from beginning to end!
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Transcript of The Edge Alan Gibbons Worksheet
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The EdgeAlan Gibbons
Can a brutal killer be a hero?
Danny’s Mum has to get away from London to escape trouble. And where his Mum goes Danny has to follow. Thus he ends up on thegrim, hostile Edgecliff Estate, a small community on the edge of a smalltown. Perhaps Danny would have managed to cope with the move if hewas white. But he is mixed race with a white mother and a black father.The Edgecliff Estate is almost exclusively white and has more than itsfair share of racists. And not only does Danny have to deal with theracist taunts and abuse of kids at his new school, he also has to dealwith the prejudice of his grandfather, Harry. This is an unflinchingexamination of life on the edge both literally and metaphorically asDanny and his mother live a life on a knife’s edge on the edge of society. Gripping and edgy from beginning to end!
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This book is about …No two people read a book the sameway. So what do you think about ‘The Edge’? Use the statements below tohelp you finalise your thoughts. Orderthem from 1-10, one being the statementwith which you agree most.
Statements about The EdgeOrder of
agreementfrom 1-10
This novel is mainly about running away fromyour worst fears
The Edge is about overcoming your worst fears
This is a book that explores the racism thatexists in small towns
This novel focuses on the process of coming tolove your own family after a major disagreement
The Edge is a book about correcting themistakes of the past
This book is about the need to use violence onoccasions
This novel is about the terrible consequences ofviolence
The Edge chronicles the experience of starting anew life
The main focus of this novel is about how tostand up to bullies
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Talkthe
BookTalk
1. Discuss the beginning of the novel. As a thriller how does it tryto grab your attention? Is it successful in doing so?
2. Is the racism on the Edgecliff Estate believable? Do you agreewith the book’s line that this kind of racism exists in smallcommunities but not in big cities?
3. Discuss the character of Harry, Danny’s grandfather.
4. The narration is told in the third person but each section focuseson a different person. What is the effect of this unusual narrativestructure? Why do you think the author chooses to use it?
5. Do you find the appearance of Danny’s Dad when they first meet believable?
6. What are the roles of Chris and Steve? Which do you find mostoffensive? Why?
7. There is a lot of violence in the novel. Which episodes ofviolence stand out in your mind? How do you think the book triesto deal with this violence?
8. Discuss what you think should happen to Chris.
9. Discuss Cathy’s relationship with Des.
10. Is this a good book, a good story, both or neither?
You are free to discuss‘The Edge’ in any way you wish. Follow theprompts below to giveyou some good startingpoints. Also feel free tothink up questions ofyour own.
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Beyond the Book…
If you liked Boy Meets Boy then you’ll love …
And finally: if you like The Edge then check out these titles …
All about Alan Gibbons …
Alan Gibbons must be a very busy man. As well as writing a largenumber of critically acclaimed children’s novels over the past twelve years, he also works as a writer-in-residence at two schools close toLiverpool and runs writing workshops in other schools – in fact, hiswebsite (http://www.alangibbons.com/) explains that he visits about 150schools in a year! All this leads him to question his own identity. He isnot sure if he is an “author-teacher” or a “teacher-author”! Certainly he feels his own writing benefits from his continued close involvement withyoung people, with many of his own ideas coming from the writingworkshops he runs. In particular, he is interested in writing for boys andwhy boys tend to underachieve in their own writing compared to girls.
Alan’s writing covers many topics and genres. His earlier work includedthe Total Football series, eight books based around the nation’s favourite sport, and his latest work is the fantasy Lost Souls Series, twosequenced novels entitled Rise of the Blood Moon and Setting of aCruel Sun.
Shadow of theMinotaur, by Alan
GibbonsComputer geek’s
virtual reality gamebased on Greekmyth and legend
becomes all too real.
Caught in theCrossfire,
by Alan GibbonsA post 9/11 tale of
what happens whenracial conflict is
exploited by whitesupremacists.
Calling a DeadMan,
by Gillian CrossMurder and
mystery all the wayfrom the UK to
Siberian Russia inthis gripping
thriller.
