Junk (novel)

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**Junk**

Author	Melvin Burgess
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English
Genre(s)	Children's, Novel
Publisher	Andersen Press
Released	14 November 1996
Media Type	Print (Hardback & Paperback)
Pages	288 p. (first edition, hardback)
ISBN	ISBN 0-86264-632-4 (first edition, hardback)

For the William S. Burroughs novel, also known as Junk, see Junkie.

Junk (released as Smack in America) is a 1996 novel by Melvin Burgess. The book is about the experiences of a group of teenagers who fall into heroin addiction and anarchism on the streets of Bristol, England.

1 Plot introduction
2 Characters in "Junk"
3 Awards and nominations
4 Film, TV or theatrical adaptations

[edit] Plot introduction

Tar loves Gemma, but Gemma doesn't want to be tied down--not to anyone or anything. Gemma wants to fly. But no one can fly forever. One day, somehow, finally, you have to come down. In Bristol the pair are offered shelter in a squat. They meet two heroin addicts and are themselves soon hooked, while Gemma is forced into prostitution to pay for the drug.

[edit] Characters in "Junk"

Tar – protagonist
Gemma – a rebellious 14-year-old, his girlfriend
Skolly – tobacconist who takes a liking to Tar in Bristol
Richard – a slightly unusual anarchist who takes Tar in
Vonny – motherly figure who lives with Richard and Jerry
Jerry – stoner who tags along with Richard and Vonny
Lily – 15(?) year old junkie who takes a liking to Gemma
Rob – scruffy boyfriend of Lily

The novel is told in the first person from various points of view; much of the narration is by Gemma and Tar, and takes place over the course of a few years in their lives. Tar, the subject of physical abuse at the hands of his father, is forced to run away from home. Joining him is his hedonistic gilfriend Gemma, who is the catalyst that leads this shy boy down his path of destruction, taking herself along as well. They 'elope' to Bristol, where they end up in a squat with mentors Richard and Vonny. When Gemma meets waifish druggie Lily she is fascinated by her and her exotic and dangerous life; soon she and Tar are living with Lily and a group of friends. The novel plots trajectory of their involvement with drugs: addiction, attempts to get sober, relapses, prostitution, and prisons.