New Boy

A stunning new addition to the Hogarth Shakespeare Series from one of Waterstones best-loved writers.

She noticed him before anyone else...

Arriving at his fourth school in six years, diplomat's son Osei Kokote knows he needs an ally if he is to survive his first day - so he's lucky to hit it off with Dee, the most popular girl in school.

But one student can't stand to witness this budding relationship: Ian decides to destroy the friendship between the black boy and the golden girl. By the end of the day, the school and its key players - teachers and pupils alike - will never be the same again.

The tragedy of Othello is transposed to a 1970s suburban Washington schoolyard, where kids fall in and out of love with each other before lunchtime, and practise a casual racism picked up from their parents and teachers. Watching over the shoulders of four 11-year-olds - Osei, Dee, Ian, and his reluctant 'girlfriend' Mimi - Tracy Chevalier's powerful drama of friends torn apart by jealousy, bullying and betrayal will leave you reeling.

The Hogarth Shakespeare project sees Shakespeare’s works retold by acclaimed and bestselling novelists of today. Other titles in the series are: The Gap of Time, Shylock is My Name, Vinegar Girl, Hag Seed, New Boy and Dunbar by Edward St. Aubyn (due in October 2017).