Handles (novel)
Encyclopedia
Handles is a children's novel by Jan Mark
which was published in 1983. It was awarded the Carnegie Medal
for that year.
countryside, where her Uncle and Aunt grow acres of vegetables. Then she sees a cat with false teeth and discovers Mercury Motor Cycles, an unusual motorcycle repair shop down an alley. There she meets the enigmatic young man "Elsie" Wainwright, who allows her the honour of helping out in the workshop. Apart from beginning to learn the trade, Erica learns a whole new arcane vocabulary and meets an array of curious characters including Bunny and Bill Birdcycle. Eventually she gets a "handle" of her own, and by the end of the summer is determined to become a mechanic.
From Reading for Enjoyment: 12–15: "This is a richly comic tale... Jan Mark knows how young people think and talk."
From the New York Times review: "Jan Mark stretches the range of children's books... she provides for young people the combination of fine prose and strong realism generally reserved for adults."
Jan Mark
Jan Mark was a British author, best known as a writer for children. She was christened Janet Marjorie Brisland in Welwyn Garden City in 1943 and was raised and educated in Kent. She was a secondary school teacher between 1965 and 1971, and became a full-time writer in 1974. She wrote over fifty...
which was published in 1983. It was awarded the Carnegie Medal
Carnegie Medal
The Carnegie Medal is a literary award established in 1936 in honour of Scottish philanthropist Andrew Carnegie and given annually to an outstanding book for children and young adults. It is awarded by the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals...
for that year.
Title
"Handles" in this book are names with a special significance, a symbol of self-discovery or growing into oneself. The title also plays on the "handles" by which a motorcycle is steered, a symbol of control.Plot introduction
Erica Timperley, a city girl who loves motorcycles, is bored with her holiday in the NorfolkNorfolk
Norfolk is a low-lying county in the East of England. It has borders with Lincolnshire to the west, Cambridgeshire to the west and southwest and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the North Sea coast and to the north-west the county is bordered by The Wash. The county...
countryside, where her Uncle and Aunt grow acres of vegetables. Then she sees a cat with false teeth and discovers Mercury Motor Cycles, an unusual motorcycle repair shop down an alley. There she meets the enigmatic young man "Elsie" Wainwright, who allows her the honour of helping out in the workshop. Apart from beginning to learn the trade, Erica learns a whole new arcane vocabulary and meets an array of curious characters including Bunny and Bill Birdcycle. Eventually she gets a "handle" of her own, and by the end of the summer is determined to become a mechanic.
Literary significance and reception
Handles was Jan Mark's second book to win the Carnegie Medal. Its realism has been particularly commended.From Reading for Enjoyment: 12–15: "This is a richly comic tale... Jan Mark knows how young people think and talk."
From the New York Times review: "Jan Mark stretches the range of children's books... she provides for young people the combination of fine prose and strong realism generally reserved for adults."