Stealing Happy

A funny, moving and uplifting story about one teen’s plan to pay back the sinister loan shark who is threatening his family … using the loan shark's own money. Perfect for 12+ fans of Phil Earle and Keith Gray

Loan shark Chick Lennon is notorious around Sonny Gilmour's way, and not for anything good.

So when Sonny discovers his mum has borrowed money from Chick to pay the rent, he finds himself in need of the quickest of get-rich-quick schemes.

With the help of best mate Jonah and quiet genius Carolina Swift, he hatches a plot – to pay back what Mum owes using Chick's own ill-gotten gains. It's not a fool-proof plan, and it's not helped by Sonny's Tourette's making him blurt out 'ROB CHICK LENNON!' at the top of his lungs every time things get dicey.

But with his dad suffering from long Covid and his mum already struggling to cope, Sonny knows it's down to him to keep his family out of Chick's clutches .

An authentic, funny and heartfelt contemporary YA by multi-award-winning author, Brian Conaghan. Perfect for fans of Frank Cottrell-Boyce and Elle McNicoll