The theme of teenage pregnancy is by now a well-established one in young adult literature. In too many examples it becomes the opportunity for sensationalism or, worse, for moralising. But in Waddell's novel, principally because of the quality of the writing, the frequently sardonic humour and the stance of Chris, his young narrator, we have a story which avoids both excesses. Instead, the focus is on the sheer ordinariness of everything: the bleak urban setting, the omnipresent petty crime, the fecklessness (not totally unappealing) of the teenage characters who drift, fairly aimlessly, from one crisis to the next. The developments by which Brian Tangello and Crystal O'Leary move from teenage lovers to teenage parents are traced with an unsentimental sympathy which understands that even in such a dispiriting environment, most people will respond with kindness and compassion.