Habitual teenage delinquent Wayne Banstead is expelled from yet another school and finds himself hauled off to Gafin School for Misdirected Boys: a special school for 'special children'.
It plays host to the worst of the worst, the cream of teenage offending – thieves, bullies, arsonists and flashers. The teachers should have their work cut out, but far from rehabilitating the boys the teachers seem more intent on instructing their pupils how to get away with their misdeeds. The pros, the cons and the downfalls are all set out like an algebra equation. Even the school motto is ambiguous at best: 'Pueri Auxilium Se' or 'Help Yourselves Boys'.
With careful tutoring Wayne and his classmates are about to take a step up into the big leagues. But in the big leagues the big boys play for keeps. With lots of action, swearing and a slam-bam robbery, Danny King's latest is definitely not for kids.
'Hogwarts this is not... A Just William for adults and all those sick of Potter' – The Daily Mirror
'Wayne is an engaging character; the set pieces, which include a rigged football match and an algebra lesson on the risk/reward ratios of various types of burglary, are first class, and the action sequences are fast, exciting and funny. Amoral, anarchic and un-PC, School for Scumbags is a lot of fun' – Laura Wilson, The Guardian
'Great swindling fun' – Time Out
'Great fun, but Danny King occupies the mind of a teenage boy all too accurately and Wayne does not make entirely congenial company' – The Telegraph
'The perfect antidote to Hogwarts' – The Sport
'Witty, pacy and definitely not for kids' – Heat Magazine
'One of the few writers to make me laugh out loud. Danny King is brilliant at making you love the characters who are essentially quite bad people' – David Baddiel, comedian
It plays host to the worst of the worst, the cream of teenage offending – thieves, bullies, arsonists and flashers. The teachers should have their work cut out, but far from rehabilitating the boys the teachers seem more intent on instructing their pupils how to get away with their misdeeds. The pros, the cons and the downfalls are all set out like an algebra equation. Even the school motto is ambiguous at best: 'Pueri Auxilium Se' or 'Help Yourselves Boys'.
With careful tutoring Wayne and his classmates are about to take a step up into the big leagues. But in the big leagues the big boys play for keeps. With lots of action, swearing and a slam-bam robbery, Danny King's latest is definitely not for kids.
'Hogwarts this is not... A Just William for adults and all those sick of Potter' – The Daily Mirror
'Wayne is an engaging character; the set pieces, which include a rigged football match and an algebra lesson on the risk/reward ratios of various types of burglary, are first class, and the action sequences are fast, exciting and funny. Amoral, anarchic and un-PC, School for Scumbags is a lot of fun' – Laura Wilson, The Guardian
'Great swindling fun' – Time Out
'Great fun, but Danny King occupies the mind of a teenage boy all too accurately and Wayne does not make entirely congenial company' – The Telegraph
'The perfect antidote to Hogwarts' – The Sport
'Witty, pacy and definitely not for kids' – Heat Magazine
'One of the few writers to make me laugh out loud. Danny King is brilliant at making you love the characters who are essentially quite bad people' – David Baddiel, comedian
