Children's novel on suicide bomber becomes best seller
A new children’s novel with a storyline about a mixed-raced teenage girl being groomed to become a suicide bomber by the leader of a white terrorist group has become a best-seller, a leading bookstore said today.
Waterstone’s said Checkmate, by award-winning children’s author Malorie Blackman, was number two in its latest teen fiction sale list.
And a spokeswoman for the chain – which has nearly 200 stores across Ireland and the UK - said the book was just outside the top 50 in its latest list of best-selling books across all genres.
“It’s our second best-seller in teen fiction,” said the spokeswoman. “It’s just outside the top 50 across all genres.”
She added: “I am not aware that we’ve had any complaints about the content of the book. It’s selling well across the industry.”
Checkmate, published by Random House Children’s Books, is the third in a trilogy which analyses race and inequality and has echoes of racial and political conflict in South Africa, Northern Ireland and the Middle East.
Blackman was tonight unavailable for comment but a spokeswoman for Random House Children’s Books said Checkmate was published on June 13 – about three weeks before the first series of bomb attacks in London.
She said the content was coincidental and added that the author was in no way making any attempt to “cash in”.
“The content is purely coincidental. It is ironic that it has been published at this time,” she added.
“The book is part of a trilogy and develops a storyline and was published prior to the bomb attacks. There can be absolutely no suggestion that the author is trying to cash in.
“And I do not believe for a moment that its sales are anything to do with the recent events.
“Malorie Blackman is a hugely popular author and this has been a very successful series. People have been waiting for a long time for this book to be published.”
The three novels are set in a fictional world occupied by a ruling class of black people called “Crosses” and a subservient class of white people called “Noughts”.
The trilogy is centred on the relationship between a rich Cross girl and a poor Nought boy and explores how the Nought boy and other members of his family become embittered by their unequal treatment and get involved with a terrorist group called the Liberation Militia.
In the first book, Nougts & Crosses, the Liberation Militia launches a bomb attack on a shopping centre.
In the second, Knife Edge, a Liberation Militia activist murders a Cross woman.
And in Checkmate, the daughter of the two central characters sets out to murder a leading Cross politician in a suicide bombing on her 16th birthday after being recruited by the Liberation Militia.
Annie Eaton, who edited the book for Random House, added: “It is completely coincidental. Noughts & Crosses was first published in 1997.
“There is no link in the story with Islam or with religion.
“I think it possibly has more to do with conflicts in South Africa.”
She added: “It is coincidental that it is on the shelves at the moment and I have not discussed this with Malorie. But I think it may help give teenagers some insight into current issues.”
She said the three books had sold more than 300,000 copies.
