"I had cousins at sea. One was in the Cadets. I was wanting to join. My maw did not want me to but my da said I could if I wanted, it was a good life and ye saved yer money, except if ye were daft and done silly things. He said it to me. I would just have to grow up first." James Kelman's triumph in "Kieron Smith, boy" is to bring us completely inside the head of a child and remind us what strange and beautiful things happen in there. Here is the story of a boyhood in a large industrial city during a time of great social change. Kieron grows from age five to early adolescence amid the general trauma of everyday life--the death of a beloved grandparent, the move to a new home. A whole world is brilliantly realized: sectarian football matches; ferryboats on the river; the unfairness of being a younger brother; climbing drainpipes, trees, and roofs; dogs, cats, sex, and ghosts. This is a powerful, often hilarious, startlingly direct evocation of childhood.

詹姆斯·凯尔曼，英国颇具影响力的作家，1946年出生于格拉斯哥。1970年出版首部文选并加入由英国作家飞利浦·霍布斯鲍姆创办的写作团体。其作品包括长篇小说、短篇小说、戏剧以及政论。其作品《叛离》入围1989年布克奖，荣获詹姆斯·泰德·布来克纪念奖；作品《为时已晚》荣获1994年布克奖；1998年凯尔曼荣获苏格兰精神奖；2008年，《男孩，别哭》获得苏格兰最有影响力的圣安德鲁协会年度图书奖。