Trash

Story

Raphael and his friends, Gardo and Rat, are streetboys. Their home is a huge dump site which reeks of steaming rubbish. The three friends sieve through the rubbish to find anything valuable they could sell. One fatal day, a small leather bag full of clues falls into Raphael’s hands. A deadly secret and a once-in-a-lifetime mission await them…

Why we chose it

A fast moving thriller which is much read in schools all over the world.

Where it came from

Andy Mulligan is an English writer best known for his young adult fiction novels. His story themes are strongly influenced by his experiences as an English and drama teacher in underprivileged boroughs. He used to teach at an international school in Manila of Philippines, which is twinned with a small landfill school, much like the school featured in Trash.

Where it went next

Trash was shortlisted for the Carnegie Medal in 2012 and has been published in twenty-eight languages. There was also a BAFTA-nominated film adaptation of the book in 2014 directed by Stephen Daldry, who cast three favela teenagers to play Mulligan’s book teen heroes.

Associated stories

Mulligan has written a number of other books for teen or young adult readers. They include Rubblestrop’s trilogy (Rubblestrop (2009), Return to Ribblestrop (2011) and Ribblestrop Forever! (2012)), The Boy With Two Heads (2013) which is inspired by Kafka’s Metamorphosis, Liquidator (2015) and Dog (2017).