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and spread virally. It was a seminal work for teens in the noughties; one reader tweeted in 2013, "I've only read 3 books in my life Keisha Da Sket, Of Mice And Men and the Argos
Catalogue". Readers wrote their own "sket" novels in emulation, and their own continuations. The author originally had her
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Keisha is a 17-year-old "top sket" (slut) from the "ends" (the working-class, heavily minority outskirts of London) who finds she enjoys sex. The novel recounts her interactions with "the mandem" (boys), including both an idealised lover and a gang rape as well as non-sexual violence. A passage early
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imprint, #Merky Books. This edition includes an author's note and a retelling in standard
English that amplifies some points and adds a new ending, with Keisha going to university. The author, credited as Jade LB, is now a part-time lecturer in African politics who also works with children and
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A nostalgic buzz around the novel re-emerged on social media in 2017, and literary agent Rachel Mann contacted the author after her assistant, a young Black woman, brought it to her attention. In
October 2021, it was published in print for the first time, as
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via smartphones. It was published in print for the first time in 2021, with the formerly anonymous author, now an academic, using the name Jade LB, and won the
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in the book reads: "I lay bck dwn an jus thought abat all da eventz of yesterday. Imagine dat, I gt lashed twice, gt a hubby and shanked sum1! Rahhh!"
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when she started writing her novel after being given her first computer. She modelled its structure on dramatic novels by writers such as
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The author, who is of
Caribbean heritage, was a 13-year-old living in North London and attending a girls' school in
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77:, as 18 chapters, which appeared in installments from 2005 to 2007. The text was shared on smartphones via
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277:"'I turned against Keisha the Sket for a long time': Jade LB on returning to her noughties viral story"
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32:, using London slang. It was originally published online in installments in the 2000s and
28:) is an erotic coming-of-age novel, written by a 13-year-old Black London schoolgirl in
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at-risk young women. She is executive producer for the Amazon original podcast
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Shook Black
Britain. Author Jade LB Discusses Its Impact And The New Rewrite"
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385:"#Merky Books is reviving the noughties viral classic 'Keisha the Sket'"
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and was inspired by
African-American erotic fiction, in particular by
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was the first winner of the
Discover Book of the Year award at the
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465:"The 'Nibbies': The British Book Awards Name Their 2022 Winners"
320:"Keisha the Sket author says she felt shame at her viral story"
119:", she revealed her identity as the author in a caption on her
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page: "our national treasure is back. #mmmdi #melmademedoit".
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403:"+44 Presents: The Noughties with Nadia Jae & Eddie Kadi"
338:"#Merky Books revisits Jade LB's Keisha the Sket 16 years on"
296:"How 'Keisha The Sket' Accidentally Decolonised Literature"
222:"How Keisha the Sket captivated London's mid-00s teens"
252:"How Keisha The Sket went from Piczo to Penguin books"
363:"Things You'll Only Know If You Grew Up In The Endz"
86:name on the site, but in 2010 became anonymous.
40:2022 in the Discover Book of the Year category.
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522:Black British culture in London
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198:"Unveiling Keisha The Sket"
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273:Candice Carty-Williams
537:Coming-of-age fiction
532:British erotic novels
16:2005 novel by Jade LB
100:Penguin Random House
517:2021 British novels
136:British Book Awards
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275:(9 October 2021).
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367:Complex UK
256:British GQ
142:References
109:Eddie Kadi
34:went viral
30:text-speak
438:Instagram
432:Jade LB.
121:Instagram
113:Nadia Jae
79:Bluetooth
473:Archived
442:Archived
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226:The Face
44:Synopsis
448:29 June
417:29 June
202:Gal-Dem
96:Stormzy
59:Hackney
138:2022.
127:Awards
389:Dazed
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