Knife crime soared by almost a quarter last year in Britain amid warnings that the reduction in stop and search is fuelling violence on the streets…the police recorded just under 40,000 offences involving a knife in the year ending December 2017 – which was up 22 per cent on the previous year.
~https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/04/26/latest-crime-statistics-reveal-knife-crime-soaring-stop-search/
Violent crime in England and Wales is rising at an accelerating pace, according to police figures showing a 22% increase in knife crime
~https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/apr/26/surge-in-knife-offences-fuels-rise-in-violent
The news about knife crime in the UK has been on my mind for a while now, Libraries (both school and public) are well-placed to offer links to information and resources for library uses of all ages. The lists I have compiled are a beginning so if anyone knows of other books or has links to resources not listed below, please leave a message in the comments.
Below is a list of YA fiction titles that about crime and violence involving bladed weapons.
When I Was Joe Keren David
When Ty witnesses a stabbing, his own life is in danger from the criminals he’s named, and he and his mum have to go into police protection. Ty has a new name, a new look and a cool new image – life as Joe is good, especially when he gets talent spotted as a potential athletics star, special training from an attractive local celebrity and a lot of female attention. But his mum can’t cope with her new life, and the gangsters will stop at nothing to flush them from hiding. Joe’s cracking under extreme pressure, and then he meets a girl with dark secrets of her own.
Hello Mum Bernardine Evaristo
“It’s a hot summer afternoon. Tension is in the air. A gang of youths on bikes gathers outside a chip shop. A teenage boy is stabbed and left bleeding on the street. The boy’s mother wonders how this could have happened to her son. She is full of questions, but when the answers lie so close to home, are they really what she wants to hear?”
The Deepest Cut Natalie Flynn
Adam blames himself for his best friend’s death. After attempting suicide, he is put in the care of a local mental health facility. There, too traumatized to speak, he begins to write notebooks detailing the events leading up to Jake’s murder, trying to understand who is really responsible and cope with how needless it was as a petty argument spiralled out of control and peer pressure took ho
The Knife that Killed Me Anthony McGowan
Paul Varderman could be at any normal school – bullies, girls and annoying teachers are just a part of life. Unfortunately ‘normal’ doesn’t apply when it comes to the school’s most evil bully, Roth, a twisted and threatening thug with an agenda quite unlike anyone else. When Paul ends up delivering a message from Roth to the leader of a gang at a nearby school, it fuels a rivalry with immediate consequences. Paul attempts to distance himself from the feud, but when Roth hands him a knife it both empowers him and scares him at the same time .
The Knife of Never Letting Go Patrick Ness
Imagine you’re the only boy in a town of men. And you can hear everything they think. And they can hear everything you think. Imagine you don’t fit in with their plans…
Todd Hewitt is just one month away from the birthday that will make him a man. But his town has been keeping secrets from him. Secrets that are going to force him to run…
Crossing the Line Gillian Phillip
Nick Geddes’s life is a mess. His sister’s boyfriend was killed in a school stabbing. His grandmother is descending into a world of her own, his mother has a ‘god-slot’ on local radio, and his father is drinking way too much. But that is nothing, because he is also crazy in love with Orla, the sister of the boy who has been killed.
Dead Boy Talking Linda Strachan
Josh has 25 minutes left to live.Lying alone in a pool of blood, Josh hasn’t much time to think.Yesterday he stabbed his best mate, and now it’s happened to him.But there are questions he can’t get out of his head. Like how did he get into this mess? Will anyone find him in time? Will his girlfriend forgive him, and what really happened to his older brother?As his life slips away, the events of the last 24 hours start to look very different…
The Passenger Dan Tunstall
Mikey’s trainers are box-fresh Nikes. They’re as white as new snow. White leather, white laces, white soles. But something on the right shoe catches my eye. It’s a tiny circle. The size of a five-pence piece. It’s bright, bright red. Blood.
Teacher’s Dead Benjamin Zephaniah
A teacher is dead, murdered by two of his students in front of the whole school. Right in front of Jackson Jones.
But Mr Joseph was a good man people liked him, respected him. How could those boys stab him and jog away like nothing had happened’
Unable to process what he has seen, Jackson begins his own investigation- everyone knows who did it, but as Jackson uncovers more about the boys, he becomes convinced that people need to understand why.
Knife Crime Resource Links
Red Cross Knife Crime Teaching Resources
No Knives Better Lives Resources
Knife Crimes Young People & Teachers’ Resources
First Aid
Red Cross: how do you help a stabbing victim?
How to help someone who has been stabbed or is seriously bleeding
