This book, written by the inspiring author David Almond, is about three young lads called Stephen, Geordie, and Davie. They are all Catholic but Stephen has been on the devil's side for years. Davie and Geordie are both altar boys at the local church serving father O’Mahoney, the priest. Davie commits insignificant sins like smoking, drinking, and swearing and always confesses them, but hold on tight for the more severe confessions that will come when a young boy called Stephen Rose turns up!

Stephen’s dad has died from a stroke and his mum has gone mad, so they took Stephen away from his mother and put him into a priesthood school called Bennet. He has now moved to the local mining town of Felling, after being thrown out of Bennet. Stephen, being a troubled lad, discovers a talent for making clay models of the apostles and turning them to life. He can also make people drop down to sleep until he wants them to wake up and he does this by the click of his fingers.

'To some God gives a true and simple heart,' he said.

'Do you see that, Stephen?'

'I do,' said Stephen.

'There are some who would make use of such a thing. Who would exploit it?'

'I know father Davie’ll be a good friend for me father.'

The priest clapped his hands and nodded at the two of us

It is written by following Davies’s life in the first person. Almond uses well-researched slang from the north like 'aye' and 'nowt'. Almond also uses thought-provoking words in awesome situations to stimulate the mind and make you keep on reading. The writing allows the reader to absorb themselves in this awe-inspiring read. It is an easy read, and only 300 pages. I think this book is for people in their early teens.

I enjoyed this book tremendously, but I found that it repeated itself a bit too much. It’s a hardback book and is presented well with doubled spacing.  

I would give this book 9/10.