A quick look around any school, college or university and you'll see a greater preponderance of women in teaching posts. Yet it seems that few make it to the very top of the tree - even in these enlightened times!

When asked by the school inspector what he thought of poetry, a pupil replied that "it's all la-di-da and daffodils, isn't it?" In his primary school the boy had come across very little poetry, poetry to him was something arcane, not really related to his own life. He had studied no powerful, challenging, contemplative, arresting, quirky poems and had written very few poems himself. His teacher admitted that he was no English specialist, had received few ideas on the teaching of poetry and didn't know where to start.

Taking up the story where CHECKMATE left off, we are drawn again into the lives of Callie Rose and Tobey.  Written with Malorie Blackman's trademark immediacy, this powerful thriller also tackles new territory as we find characters caught up not just in race but also gang conflict.