'A brilliant read, raw in its emotions and a real eye-opener.' Martina Cole From a young age, Chyna saw people all around her in gangs. They had the status, the look and the money. So when girls from a rival school started to bully Chyna and her friends, they decided to take control in the only way they knew how.But the deeper Chyna got into this world, as she became involved with boys and fell in love, the more she discovered the darker side - the vicious drug dealers, the beatings, the guns.It would take a devastating tragedy - one that ripped apart from her world - before Chyna found the courage to leave gangland behind once and for all.PREVIOUSLY PUBLISHED IN TRADE PAPERBACK AS FAM 'Rich and dazzling' The Sunday Times This emotional story of a girl born on a tough London estate provides a shocking eye-opener on gang culture . . . gritty and hard-hitting . . . Written in London slang, the story has a real spirit which really shines through.' News of the World 'A scary insight into the lives of youngsters born into poverty in Britain.' Sun'This isn't an expose to ease middle-class guilt. We're not asked to pity Chyna. Nor does FAM seek to glamourise the horrors of gang life. It is, simply, crudely, an account of a side of London you probably know absolutely nothing about and about which very little is written (aside from social care reports). These are the intimidating girls at the back of the bus, the kids storming through shopping centres, the ones who mug you for your phone and purse, the names in the newspaper your eyes sip over following yet another stabbing on a council estate.' Time Out

Author Biography

Chyna was born in South London in 1989. After years spent moving between deprived homes and safehouses, her family settled in an estate in the middle of gangland. She was enrolled at the local secondary school, where she immediately made a close-knit group of friends. After an attack left one of the girls badly beaten, they resolved to form the Nothing 2 Lose gang. Several years of brutal gang warfare followed. At the age of 16, Chyna fell into a life of drugs and crime, operating on the city streets and out of crackhouses across the country. Affiliated with boys from several notorious South London gangs, Chyna finally managed to escape the gang lifestyle after a tragic incident involving a friend served as a wake-up call. Find out more information on Facebook and Twitter https://www.facebook.com/bookfam and @FAMChyna.