Interview With A Cybils Author

Anthony McGowan's book Hellbent was a Cybil nominee. His new book, Henry Tumour, has won the Booktrust Teenage Prize.

In an interview regarding Henry Tumour, McGowan says that the message of the book is "be nice to each other."

That's basically the message of Hellbent as well.

However, neither book is your typical "be nice, kiddies" instructional story. Hellbent's main character dies in the first chapter and goes to hell, a hell filled with every imaginable kind of excrement. (Well, maybe not every imaginable kind.) Henry Tumour's main character suffers from a brain tumor (as we would spell it over here), one that talks to him. These are wildly outside the box scenarios.

Evidently Henry Tumour includes its share of vulgar humor. But just as Hellbent brought in philosophy, Henry Tumour is supposed to bring in Shakespeare and Donne.

I haven't read Henry Tumour and had mixed fillings about Hellbent. But these are definitely unique books with depth. Reviewers and librarians ought to be at least taking a look at them.