Bullied at school and ignored and abused at home by his indifferent mother and older brother, Billy Casper, a 15-year-old working-class Yorkshire boy, tames and trains his pet kestrel falcon whom he names Kes. Helped and encouraged by his English teacher and his fellow students, Billy finally finds a positive purpose to his unhappy existence—until tragedy strikes.
Keywords
small town great britain northern england sibling relationship based on novel or book single parent england falcon dysfunctional family coming of age yorkshire sibling rivalry working class single mother teenage boy mining town childhood united kingdom neglected child kitchen sink realism newspaper boy bleak brother brother relationship bird kestrel falconry