Absolutely, it offers a remarkable insight into experiences of children on the margins, vulnerable children and anything that helps them to be better understood and thus helped is invaluable in my opinion. You hear “stabbing in London”, “shooting possibly gang related” on the news, never knowing why, but this gives you an insight into the murky world that normally we would know nothing about. Danielle starts off like every other child, full of joy and not necessarily aware of, but loving the multi-cultural and varied life style in which she was raised. She has since advocated within the criminal justice system for many women: ‘the hidden victims and participants of organised crime’ – and began her Masters in September 2021.

CW: Police brutality, Police corruption, extreme violence/torture, murder, rape, sexual assault, victim blaming, drug use and dealing. If I was to raise a criticism it would be that at times found some of the language used, the dialect a bit jarring and I think often ‘slang’ talks struggles to be translated to the written word, but this was a minor point and at times this served to give voice to the author. Danielle’s takeaway from her early first encounter with law enforcement is leaving court with a reprimand and small fine and the view that there was nothing to fear, in contrast to the street justice that went on around her. It was so sad to read about her journey and how often she was failed by the services meant to protect her. It definitely needs to be studied by the younger generation, as Danielle's brutal honesty leaves nothing to the imagination.The response of police was equally shocking and the depressingly familiar tale of ‘slut shaming’ and implications that ‘she asked for it’ were made all the more disappointing when recollecting how lod those involved were. It is a shocking and graphic account of the descent of a grammar schoolgirl into the dark, seedy world of gangs, drugs and of how she ended up becoming a county lines drug dealer.

A lack of strong parental role models, outsourced education via social media, opportunities to find and exploit those young people and children to separate them from the herd, make them fall guys, beat them into submission and worse, all of this is like cat nip to career criminals who know e xactly how to groom them to a life they would not, given alternatives, have chosen.We have , in effect, been ghettoised and isolated to areas which others-read middles class people and above-see as ‘no go’ places to visit. They aren't always the people you are warned about, the ones in cars who want you to see their puppies or offering you a ride home 'because your mother sent me'. Heartbroken, Danielle spirals deeper into gang life and becomes a key player in a sprawling county lines operation, running drugs to satellite towns all over the UK from the gang's London HQ. I wanted to know how she rebuilt her relationship with her son as well as her work within the criminal justice system. You’d normally only encounter these sorts of incidents in fiction novels and just knowing this happened in ‘real life” was enough to make your toes curl.

Betrayed by the police after a brutal gang rape, she finds protection under the wing of organized criminals and falls in love with the local ‘top boy’. Hard-hitting, addictive, and thought-provoking, I 100% agree with the publishers when they said: "This book should be on the National Curriculum.However, after a brutal attack, her life changed completely and led to her involvement with ‘gangs’ and drug crime. And then of course, she gets pregnant and her and the guy she’s just started seeing are ‘hella’ thrilled to become parents, at 17 with no job or secure place to live. Join our community to get personalised book suggestions, extracts straight to your inbox, 10% off RRPs, and to change children’s lives. She has since advocated within the criminal justice system for many women: "the hidden victims and participants of organised crime" - and begins her Masters in September 2021.

Vivid, insightful and extremely powerful, I have thought about this book every day since reading it. This book brutal at times and quite emotional, but it is a no holds barred look into life on the country lines and Britain’s drug scene. She now advocates for women in the criminal justice system and speaks with law enforcement agencies about the role of women in gangs.The brutal attack Danielle suffered at the age of twelve was truly horrendous and extremely harrowing to read. Instead of trying to straighten out and get him back ASAP, she continued with the life of crime which would likely mean she’d never see him again……. She has since advocated within the criminal justice system for many women: “the hidden victims and participants of organised crime” – and begins her Masters in September 2021. I was in awe of Danielle’s strength of character, and that she could make a conscious decision to turn her life round. I think this would be a useful read for those working with young people, if nothing else but to remind that despite appearances and behaviours, children are children.