Heathrow Nights by Jan Mark
After his father's death and his mother's swift remarriage, Russell begins to feel that he has a lot in common with Hamlet. So he is slightly appalled when he and his mates, Adam and Curt, manage to ruin the entire play during an excursion to the Theatre Royal. Banned from the school trip, and determined to keep their misdemeanour from their parents, the boys head for London. With little money and nowhere to stay, they end up at Heathrow Airport, wandering between terminals in an effort to remain undetected. As the days pass, Russell retreats further into himself and his memories and the past threatening to overwhelm him. Eventually, he is left alone, and must choose between escaping his troubles and confronting their cause ...
This is an excellent parallel text for those reading Hamlet - humane, often witty, and stimulatingIts perspective should endear it to teachers tackling the play for the umpteenth time with a new set of puzzled faces, offering fresh angles from which to view that tragic hero alongside a perceptive depiction of the rougher edges of grief. * The Guardian, 3rd April 2001 *
In HEATHROW NIGHTS she (Jan Mark) is on top form, accompanying three mixed-up young lads on the run from adult disapproval....the story is spot-on contemporary. * TES, 4th May 2001 *
It's a brilliant idea to plant the characters at Heathrow airport, where they pretend to be travellers, in order to while away the time that their parents think they are spending on the school trip. Mark herself seems fairly pleased with the central notion for the book - she admits to being personally intrigued by the notion of "a landlocked island where no-one lives". * THE SCOTSMAN, 7th April 2001 *
This was an excellent novel...I would strongly recommend it to young teenagers... * TEENTITLES *
HEATHROW NIGHTS takes a cool look at three male teenagers....Russell the narrator, identifies throughout with Hamlet, since he too has a mother who remarried speedily after the death of his father. Yet Russell's thoughts about the play gradually, and cleverly, change as he comes to see Hamlet and himself in a more critical light. When his new stepfather, alias Claudius, comes to collect him there is just time for a moderately upbeat ending to offset the bleaknes that has come before. * THE INDEPENDENT, 14th April 2001 *
In HEATHROW NIGHTS she (Jan Mark) is on top form, accompanying three mixed-up young lads on the run from adult disapproval....the story is spot-on contemporary. * TES, 4th May 2001 *
It's a brilliant idea to plant the characters at Heathrow airport, where they pretend to be travellers, in order to while away the time that their parents think they are spending on the school trip. Mark herself seems fairly pleased with the central notion for the book - she admits to being personally intrigued by the notion of "a landlocked island where no-one lives". * THE SCOTSMAN, 7th April 2001 *
This was an excellent novel...I would strongly recommend it to young teenagers... * TEENTITLES *
HEATHROW NIGHTS takes a cool look at three male teenagers....Russell the narrator, identifies throughout with Hamlet, since he too has a mother who remarried speedily after the death of his father. Yet Russell's thoughts about the play gradually, and cleverly, change as he comes to see Hamlet and himself in a more critical light. When his new stepfather, alias Claudius, comes to collect him there is just time for a moderately upbeat ending to offset the bleaknes that has come before. * THE INDEPENDENT, 14th April 2001 *
Jan Mark's first novel, THUNDER AND LIGHTNINGS, won the Penguin/Guardian award for unpublished manuscripts in 1974, and was later awarded the Carnegie Medal. Since then, she has won many awards for her novels and short stories for adults and children, including a second Carnegie Medal (for HANDLES) and the Angel literary award for ZENO WAS HERE and for AQUARIUS. Most recently, THE ECLIPSE OF THE CENTURY was shortlisted for the 2000 Guardian Fiction Prize. A former teacher, Jan Mark now devotes much of her time to running writing workshops for students and teachers.
| SKU | Unavailable |
| ISBN 13 | 9780340774113 |
| ISBN 10 | 0340774118 |
| Title | Heathrow Nights |
| Author | Jan Mark |
| Condition | Unavailable |
| Binding type | Paperback |
| Publisher | Hachette Children's Group |
| Year published | 2000-12-07 |
| Number of pages | 192 |
| Cover note | Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary. |
| Note | Unavailable |