Book report for the matura on the topic DRUGS

The writing on the wall

by Lynne Reidd Banks

published by puffin books

Contents: Tracy, a 15 year old polish girl, who lives in London, meets Kev, a punk. She

adores him from the beginning and so she changes her outfit, to his style. Kev has the idea to travel to Holland in the summerholidays, and the naive Tracy, whose last year at school is ending, wants to go with him. , but if there weren´t her parents Her parents, who are very catholic, and strict, are against the trip, because they don´t think, that their daughter is mature enough, and furthermore they don´t like Kev. But the clever Kev has a solution; he suggests to take some friends with him, also the 19 yeare old Michael. So Michael , who seems

to be a well behaving person can make the parents say yes. They go to Holland, and there starts a row between Kev and Michael, because Kev doesn´t accept Michael´s morality. Furthermore Kev wants to go to Amsterdam, but Michael "just" wants to go to Rotterdam.

And again Tracy goes with him. In Amsterdam they meet two guys, who take photos, which belong to the Sado-Maso section. So Tracy runs back to the group, because kev is in favour with the two guys. Back at Michael and the others they spend a few nice days, before they have to go home.On the boat they meet Kev again, and during passport control it happens. Dogs find drugs, in Tracy´s bike, heroin, so she´s taken under arrest. Later the reader gets to know,

that Kev was the one, who put the drugs into her bike, and he finally confessed to his crime, he committed. When Tracy comes home, her mother doesn´t want to speak to her, because she thinks, that she´s guilty, and so does the rest of the family, except Tracy´s father and one of her brothers. But when her innocence becomes official, everything is okay again.

Characters:

Tracy: naive person; for her it´s important, what her family thinks of her

Parents: both catholic; father has a better relationship to Tracy, than mother; mother is very strict

Kev: social outsider (father no job); wants to do, what he wants

Opinion: I think, that the book wasn´t bad, but also not an enormous sensation. I like the way how the book deals with (social) problems, like divorces, alcoholism, divorces, etc., but on the other hand it wasn´t, like I expected. I mean the contents, from page to page I hoped, that their will happen something on drugs, like it´s promised on the list of the british bookshop.

Problem of drugs in this book: Tracy isn´t addicted, and she also doesn´t take drugs,

but she is confronted with drug-smuggling, because a friend of her put drugs

into her bike.