Grange Hill Rules - OK? (Lions)

This story is set in England. The kids of Grange Hill Comprehensive didn't get on with the kids of Brookdale High School, but these two suburbs were right next door to one another and even shared the same shopping center. Because of the fights the Grange Hill kids were ordered to stick to their area and not stray into Brookdale, but Cathy even has a boyfriend in Brookdale, so what was she going to do? In order to change the mood of the two schools Grange Hill Student Council, influenced by Penny, proposes a friendly competition in fund raising for charity. The school that raises the most money wins. Penny wants a walkathon, but Trisha quickly proposes a "slurp-in" where students eat nothing but semolina for lunch. Tucker is under special warning not so cause any more trouble or he will be expelled from the school, so, in a bid to stay out of trouble, he proposes a "silence" where students won't talk in class except to participate in lessons. Doyle is, as usual, up to no good and has special plans to wreck life for his arch-enemy Tucker. Most out of character Justin is sneaking around the suburb visiting an old run dawn house. Could he possibly be up to no good? Benny, meanwhile, is struggling with his family problems. His dad is still off work and Benny has an early morning job delivering newspapers. With the money he earns he plans to buy his dad a special present for Christmas. The only thing is that Benny is too young to work. Watching them all is Detective-Constable Houston. He is new to the area's police force and he has the idea that an informed officer is most likely to spot the troublemakers first. He especially has his eye on Tucker, Benny and Justin. What disasters and triumphs will happen this term at Grange Hill? This is book three in the Grange Hill series. The first is Great Days at Grange Hill and the second is Grange Hill Stories. These books are of course based on the famous, long-running BBC TV series , which was broadcast from 1978 to 2008. The first two books, following the TV program's lead, were episodic, but this is the first fully-fledged novel (as series three dropped the short story approach). Much of this book is fun reading with normal high school goings-on, however, in one sub-plot the issue of teenage house-breaking is dealt with and in another racism is touched upon. Leeson's writing style is very good and this novel is interesting and endearing. There are no dull spots and most readers will want to know how each sub-plot ends up. Leeson has captured the TV series' friendliness and reading this book is like following the lives of real school chums. There are no larger-than-life hero's here, as often happens in TV based products. As this book was first published in 1980 one could assume that it is dated, however, it contains no cultural references and is remarkably relevant to teenage life. Certainly there are no computers for homework or class exercises, but then these scenes don't come u