Fiction. Britpop has burst its bubble, Cool Britannia has hit its come down and the Asbo Generation have come of age. It is 2004 in the North West of England. Fifteen years old, Lay Baby has nine months before school ends, before her mother signs the estrangement papers, before her name gets dropped into the council house raffle barrel and before the excuse "I'm a kid" expires as abruptly as a child's library card. Left the blank journal of a friend after his death, Lay Baby begins writing.