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Grow

Luke Palmer
Chapters (75)
  1. Cover
  2. Praise
  3. About the Author
  4. Title Page
  5. Intoroduction
  6. ONE
  7. TWO
  8. THREE
  9. FOUR
  10. FIVE
  11. SIX
  12. SEVEN
  13. EITHT
  14. NINE
  15. TEN
  16. ELEVEN
  17. TWELVE
  18. THIRTEEN
  19. FOURTEEN
  20. FIFTEEN
  21. SIXTEEN
  22. SEVENTEEN
  23. EIGHTEEN
  24. NINETEEN
  25. TWENTY
  26. TWENTY-ONE
  27. TWENTY-TWO
  28. TWENTY-THREE
  29. TWENTY-FOUR
  30. TWENTY-FIVE
  31. TWENTY-SIX
  32. TWENTY-SEVEN
  33. TWENTY-EIGHT
  34. TWENTY-NINE
  35. THIRTY
  36. THIRTY-ONE
  37. THIRTY-TWO
  38. THIRTY-THREE
  39. THIRTY-FOUR
  40. THIRTY-FIVE
  41. THIRTY-SIX
  42. THIRTY-SEVEN
  43. THIRTY-EIGHT
  44. THIRTY-NINE
  45. FORTY
  46. FORTY-ONE
  47. FORTY-TWO
  48. FORTY-THREE
  49. FORTY-FOUR
  50. FORTY-FIVE
  51. FORTY-SIX
  52. FORTY-SEVEN
  53. FORTY-EIGHT
  54. FORTY-NINE
  55. FIFTY
  56. FIFTY-ONE
  57. FIFTY-TWO
  58. FIFTY-THREE
  59. FIFTY-FOUR
  60. FIFTY-FIVE
  61. FIFTY-SIX
  62. FIFTY-SEVEN
  63. FIFTY-EIGHT
  64. FIFTY-NINE
  65. SIXTY
  66. SIXTY-ONE
  67. SIXTY-TWO
  68. SIXTY-THREE
  69. SIXTY-FOUR
  70. SIXTY-FIVE
  71. SIXTY-SIX
  72. SIXTY-SEVEN
  73. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
  74. CLIMATE EMERGENCY
  75. Copyright

Cover

Praise

This book broke my heart and challenged me in so many ways … the rawest representation of how easy it is for a teenager to become stuck in a spiral and slip through the threads of society without anyone realising before it’s too late.

Ashling Brown, Netgalley

‘When an author is able to make you stop reading because it is uncomfortable, you know they have done something right … Needs to be read by many people far and wide, of any age, because anger and hate can grow from a feeling of not being seen. I applaud the author.

Robyn Spacey, The Book Club Blog

A really compelling but difficult read … the phrase emotional rollercoaster never felt so apt. With themes of grief, loss, mental health, racism and pressure as well as thought-provoking social commentary, it’s one that should have a place in every secondary school library.

Rachel Bellis, Netgalley

‘This book left me emotionally raw … ultimately I think it is a must read about racism and extremism told from an unexpected perspective.’

Vicky Bishop

About the Author

Luke Palmer is a poet, author and secondary school teacher. He lives in Wiltshire with his young family. Grow is his first novel.

For H

like sparks & shining dragons

Title Page

Grow.pdf

Intoroduction

There won’t be any explosions in this book.

Sorry if that’s going to be a problem. And, while we’re at it, there won’t be any chasing around at night, or encounters with the undead, or werewolves, or vampires or anything of that kind either.

Sorry.

A few years ago, I loved those kinds of books. I’d imagine myself in a world where all the adults were dead, or gone, or both. I think I’d have been OK. Maybe not the leader of one of the rebel gangs that stalked through the abandoned streets, shouting orders that various underlings followed with glee. It wouldn’t have been me that was surrounded by hard-faced kids in ragged clothes. But I’d definitely be surviving, a sharpened stick in one hand, straddling a bike kitted out like a tank, ready to dash back to my stash of pilfered tins in the belly of an old barge down on the canal. I used to love imagining myself in those situations.

But I grew out of them.

I don’t know why I liked them, really. It’s pretty grim stuff, imagining your parents are dead. And enjoying it. This book won’t be like those books.

It will be real.

It won’t be about the future, or the past, or a world where the superpowers have gone crazy and bombed everyone back to the stone age.

You don’t need all that to create terror.

ONE

ONE