View source for When I Was Joe by Keren David

{{infobox2
|title=When I Was Joe
|sort=When I Was Joe
|author=Keren David
|reviewer=Robert James
|genre=Teens
|summary=Stunning and harrowing debut from Keren David is both exciting and thought-provoking. Ty's journey into witness protection is a great read which is hugely recommended for teenagers.
|rating=5
|buy=Yes
|borrow=Yes
|pages=384
|publisher=Frances Lincoln Children's Books
|date=January 2010
|isbn=978-1847801005
|aznuk=1847801005
|aznus=B003H0533Y
|cover=1847801005
}}

We meet 14 year old Tyler and his young mother Nicki at the police
station as he gives a statement about a stabbing he witnessed.
Unfortunately for them, some of the people involved would rather not
allow him to testify against them and he's forced to flee for his
life, moving into the Witness Protection scheme and starting afresh in
a new school. Despite the vicious thugs on his trail, there are
certain compensations to life at his new school. Formerly just a face
in the crowd at St Saviour's, the mysterious newcomer quickly becomes
popular, especially when he gets involved in athletics and is coached
by older teen Ellie. Not everyone's happy with the impact he makes,
though, and he needs to worry about rivals in school nearly as much as
he does about the gangsters who are still trying to silence him. And
then he meets a girl with a dark secret of her own…

There are many words to describe When I Was Joe, but the most
appropriate one is almost certainly 'Wow'. David's taut style, fast
paced plot, and believable characterisation make it utterly thrilling
right from the first chapter. Ty is a great central narrator and the
people who surround him are really vividly fleshed out, while the
quality of Keren David's writing is superb. One scene in particularly
– I'll refrain from giving specifics as it's very difficult to do so
without giving a major spoiler – is brutally intense and actually
surprisingly disturbing to read. That said, there's nothing
horrifically graphic here and it's definitely one I'd be happy to
recommend to mature teens.

While the premise of witness protection and huge amounts of action
made it sound like a book aimed squarely at the young male market, the
romance is also really well-handled and both boys and girls are sure
to love this one. In fact, it's interesting that the action element is
relatively restrained in favour of great character development and the
problems Ty faces settling into a new school while having to try to
avoid standing out, cope with contact lenses to change his appearance,
and lie about pretty much everything. David also does an outstanding
job of revealing more and more about the true events of the night Ty
witnessed the stabbing, completely taking me by surprise with the way
the story develops.

One thing I should definitely mention, though – the ending is a real
cliffhanger – it's turned the sequel Almost True into a complete
a must-read for me and is likely to do the same for anyone else who
enjoys this gripping novel. While this is an extremely high
recommendation, I have to say it comes with a warning – you might want
to buy both books at once so you're not left desperately waiting for
the conclusion of the story!

I'd like to thank the publishers for sending a copy to The Bookbag.

Further reading suggestion: For more thrilling action for teens, the
obvious place to go – as mentioned above – is sequel Almost True. For
a fun read which is perhaps less thought-provoking, [[:Category:Eoin Colfer|Eoin Colfer's]] Artemis Fowl series really is superb.  We were also impressed by [[This is not a Love Story by Keren David]].

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