The Return of Johnny Kemp

by Keith Gray

"If I tell you to run, then run, right? And I mean fast."

Dan grassed up Johnny Kemp. No one else was stupid enough to mess with Johnny. Just Dan. Now Johnny Kemp is back, and he's out for blood...

64 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2009

About the author

Keith Gray grew up in and around Grimsby and Cleethorpes on the east coast of England and decided he'd better take his writing ambition seriously after achieving 0% in his accountancy exams. His debut, 'Creepers', was published when he was only 24 and was shortlisted for the Guardian Fiction Prize. Since then his books have either won or been shortlisted for awards all over the world including the Sankei Cultural Publishing Prize of Japan, the American Library Association Best Books (YA) and the Booktrust Teenage Prize. In the UK his bestselling novel 'Ostrich Boys' was shortlisted for the prestigious CILIP Carnegie Medal, the Costa Children's Book Award and won the Scottish Children's Book Awards, and has been adapted for the stage. Keith has been a reviewer for both the Guardian and Scotsman newspapers. In 2017 he moved to live in Vienna, Austria, with his partner, their daughter and a parrot called Bellamy. Keith is a co-founder of Sunday Writers’ Club.

Reviews

[Ohm Patel]

The Return of Johnny Kemp is a book by Keith Gray. The Return of Johnny Kemp Is real interesting book and inspirational book. I say it is inspirational because it teaches you about being bullied and if you are bring bullied then this book shows that instead of just sitting down and getting bullied stand up for yourself. A man named Dan had bullied Johnny and Johnny had been seeking revenge but although Johnny did not win the big fight at the end Johnny has still stood up for himself and taken matter to his own hands. The end of the book was unpredictable because no one had expected Dan to win the big fight and that’s why the end bit of the book was amazing for me. The book had parts which were interesting and it had some parts where it was a bit boring/plain. I recommend this book to people who are getting bullied and do not stand up for themselves. So therefore i rate this book a 4 out of 5.

[Vaeden · Rating 5 out of 5]

What this story taught me is that if you or someone you know is getting bullied don’t just sit around , be the unique person and stand up for not just yourself but for others. What I liked about this book is that it shows me real life problems like last week at school I saw someone getting picked on so I intervened and not only is this Leadership but it’s also our School motto Through Hardship To Glory, therefore this book teaches me how to pick people up and carry on with there life. To be honest I recommend this book to people who are just bored and enjoy reading stuff about getting picked on over and over again. Also for people who loves what to find out and keep on going.

[A.Crossy · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book was very good but some parts were a bit plain but I still gave it a 5/5 rating because it interested me and I actually followed the story through with everyone else. The fight at the end was good as well because it was quite realistic and the end was very unpredictable because no one expected Dan to win the fight that's why the fight at the end was good for me. Right at the end of the book we didn't know what would happen to Dan but Dan changed and was going to bully his friend and robbed his entire dinner money at the end and is going to bully every kid on road.

[R.Roadley · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have read The Return of Johnny Kemp and I thought It was a good book, but the reason I didn't like It because it was very boring and not interesting. The other reason I like it is because his brother is a brave person because when the Baxter brothers came into the ally, Jason stood up for himself.

[C.Cottonzz · Rating 2 out of 5]

I only gave this book 2 stars out of five because I thought it was plain and there wasn't enough detail and it wasn't exiting or interesting. One thing I like about this book is the fight at the end because nobody expected Dan to win.

[Nella · Rating 2 out of 5]

Gray writes well;violence winning might suit 13 year old boys but not me.