Product Description

A tense, exciting thriller combined with a perceptive and harrowing portrait of life on the streets as a serial killer preys on the young and vulnerable homeless. 17-year-old Link is distrustful of people until he pairs up with Deb, homeless like him. But what Deb doesn't tell him is that she's an ambitious young journalist on a self-imposed assignment to track down the killer and that she's prepared to use herself as bait ... Winner of the Carnegie Medal

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #8788 in Books
• Published on: 2005-01-27
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 144 pages

Amazon.co.uk Review
Stone Cold, winner of the 1994 Carnegie Medal, serves as a sinister warning to any young runaway and not just because there is a killer on the loose. Narrated by 17-year-old Link, homeless and jobless in London after being driven out of home by a drunken, abusive stepfather, he vividly recounts the day-to-day experiences of a homeless person. Because he tells it like it is, his descriptions of sleeping rough shatter any romantic notions: "So you pick your spot. Wherever it is ... it's going to have a floor of stone, tile, concrete or brick. In other words it's going to be hard and cold. It might be a bit cramped, too--shop doorways often are. And remember, if it's winter you're going to be half-frozen before you even start."

If this was just another diatribe on the perils of sleeping rough, the reader's interest would soon wane but it is far more gripping than that. The author alternates Link's tale with that of an unknown serial killer preying on the homeless. You, the reader, see how closely their lives brush against each other and know it's only a matter of time before they clash. Will Link be joining the other recruits in the cellar--what a deterrent that would be! (Age 11 and over.) --Nicola Perry

About the Author
Robert Swindells lives on the Yorkshire moors and is a full-time writer. He has won the Children's Book Award twice, for BROTHER IN THE LAND and for ROOM 13. In 1994, he won the Carnegie Medal for STONE COLD, and also the Sheffield Book Award.

Customer Reviews

Chilling
Yet another excellent book by Robert Swindells. I was reading this book in preparation for teaching it to a group of pupils with social, emotional and behavioural problems. It should go down a treat. Short chapters help keep the pace and the dual narrative means you don't have to focus too long on one particular character.

Narrated on one side by Link, a young lad who has left home due to an unhappy life. He is homeless but doesn't know how to be. He meets Ginger in a doorway one night and he begins to show him the ropes. Our other narrator is called Shelter, a sadistic seriel-killer who is killing the homeless children one by one.

The kids are disappearing and no one cares. Then Link meets Gail and his life improves but still Link knows something sinister has happened to Ginger. This book was winner of the Carnegie Medial (although I don't know which year) and it is easy to see why. It is captivating and pacey with great realistic characters. One or two more chapters at the end would have helped to finish it off much more neatly but who really needs that, the children can make up their own minds about what happens.

A good introduction to homelessness for children and as an add-on as a teacher it provides a range of stimulus for discussion. Well worth a read and well worth considering for the classroom. Yes it's been taught a lot but so what, it's a great book!

Too 'try-hard'
This novel just seems to be trying too hard to tick boxes. Aimed at teenagers, with 'typical' teen problems (check!); addresses a serious social issue at the same time (check!); something grisly to interest the boys if used in English lessons - as it is, endlessly, by the way - (check!) Perhaps my cynicism is due to the fact that I am an English teacher myself and have just seen this novel taught too often. However, I truly think some books can stand that kind of test... and this is not one of them. There just isn't enough to it and the dual narrative gets very tedious after the first few chapters. In fact, I found the characters surprisingly difficult to care about, considering the potentially moving subject matter.

Link's narration is great; Shelter turns kids off.
Stone Cold does not set out to shock. Children of 11-13, who the book is aimed at, will have seen far more gruesome and realistic depictions of homeless people on TV, You Tube or wherever than in this toned down book. But this book certainly works in the classroom. The swear words on the first few pages help. Kids are shocked to hear their teacher swearing as he reads the opening descriptions of Vince, Link's 'bastard' of a step father.

The opening section of the book descibing the failures and pressures that led Link to London are certainly the most powerful. His mum buying her homeless son a sleeping bag, especially poignant. Many classes have got a bit fidgety during Shelter's narrative. In this dual narrated novella, Shelter's army psychobabble and indirect way of saying things certainly interferes and interrupts our empathetic response to Link's plight.

Tension at the end? A little rushed maybe. Like this review.