Salvage

​Much like the eager teacher who tries to cut a dash on the dancefloor at the leavers’ prom, fiction aimed at the ‘young adult’ market always carries with it the risk of pitching the tone very slightly out – and completely alienating its intended audience as a result. Writing in the first person only increases the odds of getting it wrong; choosing to have not one, but two teenaged narrators, male and female, from starkly contrasting social backgrounds, should surely place a project into ‘Mission Impossible’ category. With Salvage, however, Keren David manages to pull off exactly that trick – telling a story that tackles sensitive issues of class, race, peer acceptance and the nature/nurture question with convincing authenticity – never lecturing or patronising - and bringing it to a conclusion of powerful emotional intensity. It’s refreshing, too, to have a British, rather than American, setting for a tale that talks about today’s teenagers.