Trash by Andy Mulligan

In the book Trash by Andy Mulligan, three boys who are trash pickers in a giant dump on the outskirts of an unnamed 2nd or 3rd world country discover a bag with some cash, a mysterious letter and a code. The police are looking for the same bag, whose contents tie some important people to accusations of high-level corruption. Moreover, the clues within may point to a substantial pile of ill-gotten cash. Mulligan has written a compelling book that combines a detective/cat-and-mouse story with a true-to-life backdrop of  wretched living conditions and omnipresent government corruption.

The book was shortlisted for the Carnegie Award in the UK and the rights to the film have already been sold, although nothing is in production yet. I did enjoy the story, but am interested to get feedback from a kid. It's pretty solidly middle-school level, but the story line is a bit confusing. Not only that, the topics of government corruption might be difficult for younger students to grasp. In addition, the book is told in a shifting first-person narrative. The start of each chapter has a character state his name and begin telling his or her part of the story. In a few cases, more than one character narrates a single chapter.

A Guardian review written by a kid points out these issues. There is a lot to this book, and it's well-written, but perhaps for some readers it would be best in a classroom or book club setting where there is a way to grapple with questions and issues raised by the book.