The Night Bus Hero

From Onjali Q. Rauf, the award-winning and best-selling author of The Boy at the Back of the Class, comes another incredible story, told with humour and heart. Told from the perspective of a bully, this book explores themes of homelessness, while celebrating kindness, friendship and the potential everyone has to change for the good.

 

'The boy's an absolute menace.'
'He's a bully. A lost cause!'
'Why can't he be more like his sister?'

'I've been getting into trouble for as long I can remember. Usually I don't mind - some of my best, most brilliant ideas have come from sitting in detention. But recently it feels like no one believes me about anything - even when I'm telling the truth! Everyone thinks I'm just a bully. They don't believe I could be a hero. But I'm going to prove them all wrong...'

Meet Hector: a bully whose dastardly antics spiral out of control when, after school one day, he decides to bully a homeless man in the local park.

But as London's most famous statues and emblems go missing and its homeless communities are pointed to as the thieves, has Hector managed to pick on the leader of them all? And if so, what can he do in a world that won't believe a word he says?

Written in lockdown when - for the first time in history - London's homeless community were gifted shelter, The Night Bus Hero explores themes of bullying and homelessness, and the potential everyone has to change for the good.

 

 

Review

Rauf's latest has a quite brilliant premise in which the bully, not the bullied, tells his tale. A thought-provoking and often very funny story which constantly plays with reader expectations. ― i

A hopeful, sensitive page-turner that proves that no one is ever a lost cause. -- Nicolette Jones ― The Times

Rauf is a remarkable storyteller - 'The Boy at The Back of The Class' is a must read - and this is another thought-provoking, well-written novel. Age 9+ -- Sarah Webb ― independent.ie

Rauf's books tackle challenging subjects and this is no exception, illuminating both the tragedy of homelessness and the power of unseen acts of kindness in our midst. -- Sarah Mallon ― The Scotsman

Onjali Q. Rauf won a raft of awards for The Boy At The Back Of The Class and she returns with The Night Bus Hero. In this lively, entertaining read, an unsettling encounter with a homeless man sets school bully Hector on the trail of robbers. -- Charlotte Heathcote and Emma Lee-Potter ― Daily Express

About the Author

Onjali Q Raúf's first book, The Boy at the Back of the Class, was Winner of the Waterstones Children's Book Prize in 2019, the Blue Peter Book Prize 2019 and other accolades.

Raúf's second book, The Star Outside My Window, went on to win the Diversity Book Award for Children's Fiction (UK) 2020.

Further titles include The Night Bus Hero, The Great Food Bank Heist, The Lion Above the Door, Where Magic Grows and Hope on the Horizon.

In 2022, Raúf was recognised for her services to Literature and Women's Rights in the New Year Honours.