Anne Barrett (1911–1986)

A good children's book : somewhat badly dated now, featuring 'Teddy boys', teenage gang warfare, and a London long-vanished.

The story is beautifully told : Martin and his parents have moved to a run-down crescent, and Martin soon falls foul of Lenny, the local Teddy Boy bully, but befriends the daughter of a Spanish neighbour, Geneva. The two of them - with help from a few friendly adults - begin to realise the architectural beauty of the crescent, and set out to re-awaken a sense of pride among the crescent's residents.

The morality of the story is undisguised : Teddy Boys are violent cowards, and children who wear glasses and take a pride in their surroundings are to be applauded. Yet it is far from being as 'black and white' as that sounds, and the unfolding of events, the cast of characters encountered, and the sense of 'new cosmopolitanism' that began to emerge in middle-class 50s Britain, make this a fascinating read.

Bottom line : it's a rattling good story, though whether modern kids will find it as rewarding, is open to question. All the same, it is - like the crescent it portrays - a small jewel of a book.… (meer)