Face

Product Information

Also, Martin has to learn to deal with all the different reactions of ordinary people to his terrible injuries. I wanted to know more about Martin because I never felt like I got a good grasp of who he is and his personality. While they seemed like they could have been more interesting it also seemed as though they were assigned one character trait and that was the whole basis of who they were.

Written in very simple language, Zephaniah brings the streets to life - I especially like the scene where Natalie misinterprets the three girls' smiles and gets ready for a fight, only to be asked if she likes clubbing.Before the accident he hated gymnastics at school and then on his second day back it was his favorite activity and two days later he was the captain! This book will not only be enjoyed by teen readers for its entertaining story, but also for its statement about prejudice. The pacing is excellent as well, with events naturally following on from one another - whilst never lingering on certain situations for too long. Martin's life looks good with a model for a girlfriend, the best gymnast in school, and as a class clown. I really like his writing style; he’s able to cover such complicated topics such as peer pressure, drugs, youth crime, racism, young relationships, preconceptions and a whole host of others, without it getting too heavy or bogged down.

I just read it, then at the end, when I found out it was Benjamin Z and he was only 'up the road' in Birmingham, I loved it more. Brilliantly written with a real ear for dialogue, this is Benjamin Zepaniah breaking new boundaries. The ending didn't really feel like an ending to me, and I would have liked to see this book expanded.It’s just a little too shaky in places, and whilst there aren’t any overt mistakes in terms of grammar and punctuation, I did occasionally find myself being jerked out of the story when somebody behaved strangely or said something unusual. I did go into reading this book thinking purely about students/ya reading this but a few chapters in and I was hooked and read it for my own enjoyment and forgot about reading it to recommend. Critical reception for Face has been mixed to positive, with Booklist saying "Martin's personal growth may lack literary finesse, but his struggle to overcome adversity will still involve some readers". As much as I adore Benjamin Zephaniah's poetry and his presence when he reads, I'm not as certain in my feelings towards Face. I like that the author didn't shy away from anything, and it was an honest portrayal of what burn victims have to go through.

Fleshing out a very clear world these young characters live in, with the change in dialogue between speaking with their child counterparts and adults conveying an accurate fictional narrative, within a non-fictional setting.The other characters are additionally well written - with their portrayals remaining relatable throughout, thanks to Zephaniah's realistic youth dialogue. Benjamin Zephaniah is a British performance poet who travels on literary world tours for the British Council. Having listened to (and loved) another of Zephaniah’s audiobooks (also narrated by Bailey Smith) I was really looking forward to this one, and I was not disappointed.

Being a short novel, I think everything was carefully played out and I very much enjoyed the contrast between what Martin had been before and after the accident. The holidays have started, he’s got a gorgeous girlfriend and everyone agrees he’s the coolest dancer around.It was a good base but there wasn't a lot of depth in the characters, there was a lot of telling and not showing (which was the biggest problem in my opinion. Face, a young adult book, by Benjamin Zephaniah unravels the story of a 15-year-old boy named Martin who chose mistake after mistake until he found a burden too heavy to replace. Face by Benjamin Zephaniah is an interesting, compelling and emotional story that tackles social problems about physical disfigurement.