CONCENTR8 ® by William Sutcliffe #Concentr8

Reading guide CONCENTR8 ® By William Sutcliffe #Concentr8

SYNOPSIS

A powerful, multi-point-of-view drama set over six days in a chillingly recognisable near-future London, where a drug called Concentr8 has been extensively prescribed to young people diagnosed with ADHD.

Against a backdrop of rioting in the capital, a group of teenagers, led by unpredictable Blaze, pull a knife on a man as he leaves work at the Mayor’s ofﬁ ce. They take him across London and chain him to a radiator in an abandoned warehouse. While they struggle to understand their own actions and Blaze’s motivation, an armed police unit surrounds the building.

Meanwhile, an ambitious journalist is investigating the role of the drug Concentr8 in the rioting. The drug was being used on a massive scale to treat ADHD, a condition believed to be ‘reaching epidemic proportions throughout the Western world’ (p.73) but has been suddenly withdrawn from the market. After extracting scant information from the Mayor, the journalist sets up a meeting with Professor Pyle, the expert responsible for recommending the use of Concentr8 in schools. The professor reveals that not every child was medically assessed before being put on the drug; that schools were rated for their take-up of it, and that parents of children deemed eligible for the medication were entitled to disability allowance: ‘the perfect incentive scheme’ (p.75).

When these revelations about Concentr8 become public, the angry teenagers realise that that ‘they shouldn’t have been dishing it out to us in the ﬁ rst place,’ and that they were giving the drug to ‘anyone they wanted to keep quiet’ (p.117). The journalist continues her investigation and ﬁ nally manages to contact Blaze in the midst of the hostage situation. Blaze asks her to set up a meeting with the Mayor so he can confront him about his ‘drug dealing’ (p.181). When they meet, Blaze and his friends try to make their mark on the world and teach the Mayor a lesson by humiliating him. Then Blaze asks to take full blame for the abduction. The Mayor agrees but, as everyone emerges from the warehouse, the Mayor goes back on his word and the whole group is arrested. The events have strengthened the Mayor’s career, not damaged it.

While the hostage situation is over, the journalist senses that there’s still more to this story, and she discovers that Professor Pyle was on the payroll of the pharmaceutical company that made Concentr8, which she believes renders this a ‘scandal about money,’ as well as a scandal about ‘the unjustiﬁ ed drugging of children’ (p.232). The novel ends with Troy in a cell awaiting sentencing. While he feels that the other members of the group ‘sold him down the river’ (p.234), Troy remains loyal to Blaze.

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THEMES

This politically-charged, authentically voiced novel tackles some of the major issues of contemporary society, namely how young people – particularly those from poorer backgrounds – are failed by society, and why they might turn to criminal and anti-social behaviour. Throughout the novel, Blaze and his friends voice the view that no one is on their side and that they’re isolated from ‘normal’ society. There is a huge gulf in power between the novel’s teen and adult characters. The teen characters have been side-lined and let down by their parents and teachers, and by a government that has implemented a policy of medically pacifying young people so it can ignore the underlying causes of social disaffection. The adult characters are self-serving, from the arrogant Mayor more concerned with his public persona than bettering society to the professor whose main motivation turns out to be accumulating personal wealth. The novel also questions the ethics of the pharmaceutical industry. WRITING STYLE

The novel is told through several distinct ﬁ rst-person narratives interspersed with illuminating excerpts from medical reports, sociological texts and tweets. Each of the characters’ voices is incredibly authentic. Realistic dialect and dialogue, and the author’s inventive use of punctuation, bring the characters’ points of view to life.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

WILLIAM SUTCLIFFE was born in London in 1971 and now lives in Edinburgh. He is the author of several novels for adults, including the international bestseller Are You Experienced?; The Love Hexagon; New Boy; Bad Inﬂ uence and Whatever Makes You Happy. His ﬁ rst YA novel, The Wall, was shortlisted for the 2014 Carnegie Medal and longlisted for the 2013 Guardian Children’s Fiction Prize. His work has been translated into more than twenty languages.

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FOR DISCUSSION

1 Do you think the events described in Concentr8 could really happen? Did the world portrayed in the novel seem familiar? Were you surprised – or shocked – by anything?

2 The novel is told from different characters’ points of view. How effective is this as a narrative technique? Why do you think the author chose to do this?

Do you think the characters seemed authentic? Why, or why not? If so, what made them believable? How does the author make each of their voices distinct? Answer with reference to two characters.

3 The narrative is interspersed with excerpts from medical reports, sociological texts and tweets. Why do you think the author chose to do this? Did it enhance your reading experience? If so, how?

4 ‘Was this really a child mental health programme, or was it pre-emptive policing?’ (the journalist, p.109) ‘Untreated children are said to be likely to be more at risk of becoming criminals’ (p.3, excerpt from The 21st Century Brain by Steven Rose)

Do you think it’s acceptable for children with ADHD to be put on a drug that might prevent them from becoming criminals in later life? Was it for their own good? Was it for the good of society? Or do you agree with Blaze that the widespread use of Concentr8 was akin to ‘drug dealing’ (p.181)? What did you think of the fact that parents of children on Concentr8 were entitled to disability allowance? Was it right to offer this incentive? Discuss these issues in a group.

5 ‘We was getting wilder cause we was angry they’d taken away the Concentr8 - but this is weeks ago man and I can see now I didn’t get the point – cause it’s only now reading that story on my phone that I realise what was making us angry was just that we was waking up again’ (Troy, p.120)

Do you think the withdrawal of Concentr8 was to blame for the riots? Why/why not? What does Troy mean when he says ‘what was making us angry was just that we was waking up again’?

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6 ‘For a few days me and Blaze and the others was the ofﬁ cial scumbags of the universe. But what I’m saying is – we ain’t. We ain’t and we weren’t’ (Troy, p.3)

Do you agree with this assertion? Did you think the friends could be held responsible for their actions? Did your view change as the novel unfolded?

7 After reading the novel, did you have a better understanding of what might motivate young people to join a gang, or get into crime? Consider the journalist’s view that ‘born somewhere else, [Blaze] could have become anything. With my education he could have ended up doing my job, no trouble. But it’s pretty clear he’s going to spend most of his life in jail’ (p.180). Consider Troy’s comment: ‘You try getting on from day to day knowing you ain’t never going to have nothing – ain’t no job nowhere with your name on it and never will be’ (p.100).

What do you think causes social disaffection among young people? If you were a politician, how would you address the problem?

8 How did you feel about Troy and Blaze in the opening chapters, as Troy talks about the ’buzz’ and ‘magic’ of violence (p.6)? What was your ﬁ rst impression of these characters? Did your view change during the course of the novel?

9 ‘You can’t say no – nobody says no to Blaze’ (Troy, p.7)

Why do you think Blaze holds such power over the group? Might fear be a factor, contrary to what Troy says on p.7? Compare and contrast Femi and Troy’s opinion of Blaze.

10 Do you agree with Troy’s view that Karen, Femi and Lee were ‘snakes’? Do you understand why they betrayed Blaze, why they ‘sold him down the river’ (p.234)? Do you agree that Karen’s ‘got cold blood in them veins’ (p.234)? Do you blame her for betraying her boyfriend? Was this unexpected?

11 ‘I can handle myself. I handled myself all my life without no help from no one’ (Troy, p.237)

Do you think Troy would be able to handle himself in prison? Do you think he’s as invincible as he makes out?

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12 What does Blaze’s burning of the packets of Concentr8 reveal about his character? Did your view of Blaze change during the course of the novel?

13 ‘For what is politics but seduction on a national scale?’ (the mayor, p.31)

What does the mayor mean by this? Do you agree? Is this right?

14 Consider the novel’s adult characters – the mayor, the journalist, the negotiator, the hostage. Do they have anything in common? Are any of them good role models?

15 ‘We stood up. Might seem like it didn’t get us anywhere but at least we stood up’ (Troy p.237)

Do you think the friends were standing up to something? Do you think their actions achieved anything?

16 Consider the ending of the novel. How did it make you feel? Does it offer any hope?

17 ‘This is a scandal about money. And you don’t need a journalism degree to know that if you want to get people’s attention, there’s no better subject’ (the journalist, p.233)

Do you agree with the view that a scandal involving money attracts the public’s attention more that other kinds of ‘scandals’?

18 Which character had most impact on you? What was it about their circumstances, actions or thoughts that resonated with you?

19 Does humour play any role in the novel? Did anything make you laugh?

20 Think of three alternative titles for Concentr8.

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CREATIVE ACTIVITIES

1 Write your own back cover text for Concentr8. Think about which elements of the story potential readers should know about. Think about the style and tone of your writing – it needs to grab the attention of potential readers and give the ﬂ avour of the book without giving too much away. You might like to consider including a short excerpt from the book.

2 You’re standing to be elected mayor of London. Write a ﬁ ve-point manifesto outlining what you’d do to improve the lives of young people in the capital.

3 Shoot a scene: in a group, chose a scene from the novel to fi lm, then assign roles to everyone. You’ll need scriptwriters and actors, and people to take responsibility for the set, props and costumes. Once you’re prepared, fi lm the scene on a phone, as if you were one of the characters capturing the moment. You could take this further and fi lm the same scene from different characters’ perspectives.