Dark Secrets, Red Ink

I felt considerable enthusiasm for this book, after being heartily discouraged by the blurb. Jax (Jacqueline), Fliss and Ken are blessed with a Welsh trade unionist father and an academic, vague mother. Jax becomes a Socialist working for Red Ink, a party newspaper; Fliss becomes pregnant after one disastrous attempt at lovemaking; and Ken, hooked on old Marx Brothers films, is catapaulted into the harsh world of reality when he takes part in a mass picket after being persuaded by Jax. Not the stuff which fourth and fifth-year reading books are made of? I do have reservations but they're minor ones - a sprinkling of four-letter words to agitate twitchy parents, for example - and the book has much to offer by way of off-beat humour and a dynamic interplay of characters. Put it in the Wider Reading book box - for boys or girls - and prepare to be pleasantly surprised.