‘ONE OF THE MOST MOVING ACCOUNTS OF NON-FICTION EVER WRITTEN’ GUARDIAN
‘If you like Shuggie Bain, then Slum Boy is for you’ LEMN SISSAY
‘Beautifully told. I hope it finds a million readers’ ANDREW O’HAGAN
John MacDonald is a four-year-old boy growing up in the slums of Glasgow.
John’s mother is an addict, who leaves him starving in their flat for days at a time.
When a neighbour reports her, John is wrenched away from his family and placed into the care system. There, he has experiences he’s too young to understand which his eventual adoptive parents silence as he grows into a gay man within a strict Romani community.
But John dreams of being reunited with his mother and will stop at nothing to find her.
‘Compulsively readable’ PATRICK GALE
‘Remarkable and moving tale’ TIMES LITERARY SUPPLEMENT
Juano Diaz was awarded the Pride Awards 2024 for LGBTQ+ Heroes Changing the World.
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Reviews
A reminder that beautiful things grow and flourish
The writing is beautiful
A heart-breaking, inspiring read
An extraordinary survival story
A reminder that beautiful things grow and flourish
A heart-rending story that has you constantly holding back tears
I laughed and cried. It's a masterpiece
What a brave and powerful story. If you like Shuggie Bain and Damian Barr then Slumboy is for you
Fans of (Douglas) Stuart and (Damian) Barr will pounce on this startling debut. Compulsively readable, it's Dickensian in its rich cast of Glaswegian characters
Powerful and beautifully written... Juano Diaz's elegant and heartbreaking memoir immediately brings to mind Douglas Stuart's Booker-winning Shuggie Bain
A powerful and at times harrowing memoir. Slum Boy is a remarkable and moving tale of survival.
A heart-breaking, inspiring read
An extraordinary survival story