Before I Knew Him — Anna Ralph

In the hottest summer for years, the long school holidays stretch out before fourteen-year-old Leo. But he doesn't see much to look forward to. Leo doesn't fit in. But nothing ever happens to Leo; he never has a story. Then he meets David. Moody, resentful and tough, David is everything Leo is not and an unlikely friendship soon grows between them.

Events that summer take a dangerous and disturbing turn, and the results are devastating for both boys and their friendship. In the aftermath, traumatized, they pledge to keep their shared secret, never to meet again, and above all -- to forget. But when the terrible truth re-emerges ten years later and forces David and Leo back together, everything and nothing has changed.


From the Hardcover edition.