{"product_id":"what-i-did-a-novel-isbn-9780062121691","title":"What I Did: A Novel","description":"“This is family life today at its most believable: warm and messy, bored and raging….I LOVED IT.”\u003cbr\u003e—Emma Donoghue, author of the \u003cem\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/em\u003e bestseller \u003cem\u003eRoom\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e\u003cem\u003eWhat I Did\u003c\/em\u003e by Christopher Wakling is a truly astonishing novel—the chronicle of a family crisis that is equal parts hilarity, poignancy, and horror, told in the singular voice of a most precocious youngster.  \u003cem\u003eRoom\u003c\/em\u003e meets \u003cem\u003eThe Slap\u003c\/em\u003e meets \u003cem\u003eThe Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time\u003c\/em\u003e, Wakling’s tour de force concerns one rash act that pitches a six-year-old boy and his hapless parents into the center of a social services maelstrom. \u003cem\u003eWhat I Did\u003c\/em\u003e is contemporary fiction at its most enthrallingly original—poignant, powerful, and extremely funny—a miraculous work that prompted London’s \u003cem\u003eDaily Mail\u003c\/em\u003e to declare it “the novel that should have won the Booker prize.”\u003cbr\u003e | \u003cp\u003e\"This is a story about a terrible thing which happens to me. I have to warn you that nobody is bad or good here, or rather everyone is a bit bad and a bit good and the bad and the good moluscules get mixed up against each other and produce terrible chemical reactions. Did you know cheetahs cannot retract their claws?\"\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eSix-year-old Billy loves animals, David Attenborough documentaries, and sneakers that flash when he runs. He does not love sitting still, the blood-soaked sky in \u003cem\u003eWatership Down\u003c\/em\u003e, or his father's cell phone.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWhen Billy runs into a busy street, ignoring his father's commands, he sets in motion a series of unexpected, family-altering events. \u003cem\u003eWhat I Did\u003c\/em\u003e is a heart-wrenching reminder of how best intentions can lead to disastrous consequences, and how one rash decision can take on a life of its own. \u003c\/p\u003e | \u003cp\u003e“Warm, hilarious, eye-wateringly moving, with the cleverest use of point of view since Jane Austen . . . WHAT I DID is the novel that should have won the Booker prize.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eDaily Mail (London), \"Christmas Pick\" in the literary fiction category\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Much in the vein of Atonement, a well-intentioned innocent threatens to destroy the people he loves most . . . affecting.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003ePublishers Weekly\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Like Christos Tsiolkas’ The Slap, [WHAT I DID] documents one family’s attempt to cope with the aftermath of a public outburst and the failure of their own innocent attempts to put things right . . . an affecting, thought-provoking tale of parent-child relations.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eBooklist\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Horribly plausible . . . [What I Did] brilliantly captures parent-child relations in the raw.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Independent\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Wakling creates believable conflict from the everyday facts of a child going just too far and a parent losing it . . . The novel is a strong depiction of a family in crisis.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eSunday Age (Melbourne)\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“A powerful parable of 21st century society . . . a fine, challenging novel.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eMail on Sunday\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“I loved it! Staggeringly good. Terrifyingly good.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eLisa Jewell, bestselling author of Ralph's Party\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Hugely impressive, gripping, funny and thought provoking.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eEmily Barr, bestselling author of Backpack\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Excellent . . . Dark but uplifting.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eAlex Preston, author of This Bleeding City\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“A powerful, poignant and funny novel, perched on the precarious line between protecting children and destroying families.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eMelbourne Age\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“A child’s view of the actions and attitudes of adults has seldom been so compellingly or tenaciously illustrated as by Wakling in this perfect little book.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eIrish Times\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“This is family life today at its most believable: warm and messy, bored and raging, and above all, self-conscious. WHAT I DID is every parent’s nightmare, but will make you burst out laughing too. I loved it.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eEmma Donoghue\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Gripping, hilarious, tender and a whole lot more, this is, without doubt, one of the books of the year.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eDaily Mail (London)\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Amusing and unsettling . . . What I Did lets us into the mind of a child who is comically literal and utterly at sea in the world of adults.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Guardian\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"William Morrow Paperbacks","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44888084021477,"sku":"NP9780062121691","price":13.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1842\/7735\/files\/9780062121691.jpg?v=1730228114","url":"https:\/\/k12savings.com\/products\/what-i-did-a-novel-isbn-9780062121691","provider":"K12savings","version":"1.0","type":"link"}