For the narrator of "Pigeon English", Harrison is acting as an informal interpreter for the reader, explaining all the various wars, signs and words so that we can understand what he is saying to us, but it also seems at times as is he is providing an explanation for himself. As a boy from Ghana, he is having to work at living in England and understanding the ways of the people around him. Not always successful, he provides enough information so that the reader knows enough of what is going on and we discover the murderer through Harrison's eyes. Sometimes a little slow, I find myself willing Harrison to notice what's really going on. A similar feeling I had when reading "Room" where I just wanted Jack to realise the truth of his situation, but I think that is what makes child narrator's so special to novels that are dealing with violent topics. They can see, but to a degree not interpret what they are seeing which makes them amazingly resilient to the outside world, particularly shown through Jack who manages to adapt with surprising quickness as a result of his innocent view of the world.
With a few chapters left of "Pigeon English" I am struggling to get along with Harrison as much as I did with Jack in Donoghue's "Room", but I think the effect is very similar. The resilience of these fictional children at such a young age contrasts their innocence with the brutalities they are presented with. I can see why "Pigeon English" is on the Waterstone's Eleven and has already made such a splash. Definitely one to watch when it is released on the 7th March this year.