1980s English teen runaways discover the ecstasies and horrors of heroin use in this winner of the Carnegie Medal and the Guardian Prize for fiction.

A Publishers Weekly "Best Children's Books of the Year"

A School Library Journal "Best Book"

An American Library Association "Best Books for Young Adults"

A New York Public Library "Books for the Teen Age" list pick

"This is one novel that will leave an indelible impression on all who read it." — Publishers Weekly (starred review)

When fourteen-year-old Tar runs away from home, he thinks he's found the perfect life. He's got his girlfriend, Gemma, a place in an abandoned building to live, and new people to meet. And when Gemma and her friends invite him to take his first hit of smack, he thinks things will only get better.

Smack slowly changes everything, but not for the better. Tar begins to steal, Gemma grows more and more distant, and no one seems to know how to find anything but the next hit. Then, it all starts to fall apart. . . .

"Based on actual people and incidents, this harrowing tale is as compellingly real as it is tragic." — Kirkus

" Smack pulls no punches: Drugs can be fun. And Smack makes it relentlessly clear that fun comes at a vicious price. . . . It will leave you reeling." — Denver Post

Melvin Burgess