A NOVEL about heroin addiction by an East Lancashire author has won a top children's book prize.

'Junk,' by Earby writer Melvin Burgess, tells the story of two 14-year-old runaways and their descent into drug addiction.

Written for15-year-olds upwards, the book today won the Library Association's 60th Carnegie Medal - known as 'The Booker Prize of the Playground.'

Melvin, who has been short-listed several times in the past, said he was surprised that his latest work had won, given its controversial subject matter.

"They've really stuck their necks out by choosing Junk as the Carnegie winner," he admitted.

Junk is set in a seedy part of Bristol in the 1980s and tells of underage thieving, prostitution, pregnancy and drug addiction.

Melvin, 43, drew on the experience of watching his younger brother, Owen, become addicted to heroin for one of the characters. He says: "Heroin begins as mother, lover, best friend - and ends up like a soldier holding a gun to your head." Brought up in Reading, Melvin developed a love of writing after failing his 11-plus and going to a comprehensive school which, in his words, 'saved my life.'

Although he only began to write full-time at 35, he has since published eight children's books, developing a reputation for tackling tough subjects like homelessness, disability and child abuse. Junk has already been named as winner of the Guardian Fiction Prize.

He doesn't mind if his books often attract criticism from those who say the issues are unsuitable for children.

"We must not be afraid to write how life really is for today's young adults," he says.

"Junk is a real, proper teenage novel. It's out on the streets, it's about sex, drugs and rock and roll - the things they're really interested in.

"It addresses their interests and, I hope, may help in their decision-making process."

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