‘The noise had thrown the whole market into panic. The floor-vendors and stallholders were stampeding out of the market gates at the side and front entrances. They had all abandoned their wares and their personal belongings and were screaming and shouting their way out to Cross Roads. Following close behind them, the rioters kicked over the displays and stands and show-baskets wherever they ran into them . . . ’

Gerald Manston and his friends Shifty and Fu lead pretty uneventful lives until the arrival of the ‘upheaval’. Then comes the opportunity to fight for a better way of life for the poor folk of Kingston. How can a kid resist the lure of excitement, danger and change?

This is the moving conclusion to Andrew Salkey’s quartet of children’s novels about the natural and manmade cataclysms of Jamaica.

Praise for the original 1960s quartet:

‘Strongly recommended.’ —The School Librarian

‘ . . . a cleverly constructed story of mounting tension . . . ’ —Junior Bookshelf

‘This is a fine story, a worthy successor to Hurricane . . . ’ —British Book News