Cardboard Cowboys

Description

I'm not a genius. Not yet anyway. But Bruce is. Even though I found him living in a house made of cardboard, he's a massive genius. Fact. So this is mine and Bruce's story. You don't have to believe any of it happened, but it did. All of it. Nobody at school can see past Lenny's size to the person within, and he's sick of trying to make them. So when lessons gets too tough, he always goes to his bench to think. At least there no one can see him. But one day, midway through lobbing his empty can of IrnBru into the river, he's stopped by Bruce. Bruce lives in a cardboard home hidden away by the banks, and he doesn't approve of people messing up his front lawn... But a bumpy start soon gives way to an unexpected friendship - and an epic roadtrip - that will change both of them for life.

Brian Conaghan was born and raised in the Scottish town of Coatbridge but now lives in Dublin. He has a Master of Letters in Creative Writing from the University of Glasgow. For many years Brian worked as a teacher and taught in Scotland, Italy and Ireland. His first YA novel for Bloomsbury, When Mr Dog Bites, was shortlisted for the 2015 Carnegie Medal, and his second, The Bombs That Brought Us Together, won the 2016 Costa Children's Book Award. We Come Apart, a verse novel co-authored with Carnegie Medal winner Sarah Crossan, won the 2018 UKLA Book Award, and his fourth novel, The Weight of a Thousand Feathers, won the 2018 Irish Book Award for Teen & Young Adult Book of the Year. @BrianConaghan

Conaghan is a sublime storyteller who can make the reader hang on his every last word (and all of the others)' - Praise for THE WEIGHT OF A THOUSAND FEATHERS * Alex O'Connell, The Times, Children's Book of the Week * 'An emotional rollercoaster of a book, written with so much heart it bounces off of the page ... A bold, life-affirming read' - Praise for THE WEIGHT OF A THOUSAND FEATHERS * Irish Independent * 'This is a portrayal of young male bonding, complete with all the lively banter of true camaraderies, at its most tender and affectionate' - Praise for WHEN MR DOG BITES * Irish Times * 'Beautifully observed and hilariously uncomfortable' - Praise for WHEN MR DOG BITES * Guardian * 'Believable, funny, brave and vulnerable young male characters ... thought-provoking novel ... drama and tension in plenty ... irrepressible humour' - Praise for THE BOMBS THAT BROUGHT US TOGETHER * Joy Court, The School Librarian *