Small Island to be given out free

Following the news that Zadie Smith's debut novel White Teeth had been added to the school syllabus, I asked which other modern novels you thought should be studied. Diane suggested Andrea Levy's Whitbread Prize winning book, Small Island, saying, "students could learn about race issues in the 50s, immigration, World War 2 and read a good book all at once!"

Well, it's just been announced that, as part of an initiative to mark the 200th anniversary of the Slave Trade Abolition Bill, 50,000 copies of Small Island are to be distributed free to libraries and schools next year. The participating cities - Bristol, Liverpool, Hull and Glasgow were all involved in the slave trade and the campaign for its abolition. [via Publishing News]

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