After a terrific row with his Mum and sister, Terry storms out of the house. He means only to stay away long enough for his family to feel sorry, but on the Common he is accosted by an unpleasant gang of four boys about his age (11) and their terrifying leader, Les (15). In fear of his life, he agrees to help them break into his junior school to steal some radios. Les has a flick knife and makes it quite clear he will use it on Terry if necessary. The first half of this long novel is a minute by tense minute description of the boys' capture of Terry, their physical and verbal assaults on him, and their breaking into the school. The boys are seen getting away and Terry is recognised. Terry's supportive parents find it hard to believe that Terry could have been involved in this crime, and the headmaster of his school wants to believe Terry was forced into complying. However, he sees evidence that Terry and Les are, in fact, friendly. In trying to get back one of the radios from Les, Terry sees the awful life he leads, and they become co-conspirators in stealing back the radio from a 'fence'. Caught in the act, literally 'on the fence', Terry tries not to give Les away. Brought before the Juvenile Court, Les is given a two month sentence because it isn't his first time. Terry gets an unconditional discharge, but not before he is made to say in court that he felt sorry for Les, making him an object of pity. The contrast between Terry's settled home life (though not without its problems) and Les'' acceptance of his appalling mother (even defence of her), the concept of families being a 'fence' in one's life, either for good or evil, the contrast between the story's menace and fear in the beginning and Terry's growth as he discovers more about Les is finely drawn. It will take a reasonably mature child to get the most from this detailed novel, but the effort is worthwhile. Highly recommended.