73 pages • 2 hours read
Andy MulliganTrash
Fiction | Novel | YA | Published in 2010A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more. For select classroom titles, we also provide Teaching Guides with discussion and quiz questions to prompt student engagement.
Introduction
Trash
- Genre: Fiction; young adult dystopian; mystery/thriller
- Originally Published: 2010
- Reading Level/Interest: Lexile 850L; grades 7-10
- Structure/Length: 5 parts; 33 chapters; approx. 240 pages; approx. 5 hours, 21 minutes on audio
- Protagonist and Central Conflict: In the near future, 14-year-old Raphael, along with friends Gardo and Rat, work each day as “dumpsite boys,” picking through a massive trash heap on the outskirts of a city. When Raphael makes a strange discovery in the trash, the boys are launched into a dangerous and suspenseful quest for justice and survival.
- Potential Sensitivity Issues: Poverty; some profanity; descriptions of violence, some graphic
Andy Mulligan, Author
- Bio: British writer of children’s, young adult, and adult fiction as well as radio plays and screenplays; born in 1966 and raised in London; career background includes work as a theater director and teacher; presents as a visiting author at schools worldwide
- Other Works: Ribblestrop (2009); Liquidator (2014); Dog (2017)
- Awards: School Library Journal Best Books of the Year (2010); Guardian Children’s Fiction Prize (winner); Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals Carnegie Medal (shortlisted)
CENTRAL THEMES connected and noted throughout this Teaching Unit:
- Corruption
- Poverty
- Friendship
- Education
STUDY OBJECTIVES: In accomplishing the components of this Unit, students will:
- Gain an understanding of the social and cultural contexts regarding poverty and government corruption for making comparisons in the novel.
