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Keisha The Sket

Discover the Penguin books that shaped us

Keisha the Sket is truly a crucial part of not just Black Brit literature, but British literature as a whole.

Keisha the Sket accidentally decolonised literature.

'Reading Keisha the Sket as an adult makes me swoon at the richness of its nostalgia.

Keisha the Sket has united a nation and rebirthed a generation of readers who were gripped by the tale of a 'top sket'.

Keisha The Sket feels like an old friend.

I'm not sure if we knew it at the time, but KTS was decolonising and demystifying literature for a generation.

‘A true British classic.’ Stormzy

Where were you when Keisha the Sket first broke the internet? 
 
Keisha is a girl from the ends, sharp, feisty and ambitious; she's been labelled 'top sket' but she's making it work. When childhood crush and long-time admirer, Ricardo, finally wins her over, Keisha has it all: power, a love life and the chance for stability. But trauma comes knocking and with it a whirlwind of choices that will define what kind of a woman she truly wants to be. 
 
Told with the heart and soul of the inner city, with an unforgettable heroine, Keisha the Sket is a revelation of the true, raw, arousing and tender core of British youth culture. 
 
Complete with essays from esteemed contemporary writers Candice Carty-Williams, Caleb Femi and Aniefiok Ekpoudom.

WINNER OF THE BRITISH BOOK DISCOVER AWARD 2022 
 
 
Where were you when Keisha the Sket first broke the internet? 
 
Keisha is a girl from the ends, sharp, feisty and ambitious; she's been labelled 'top sket' but she's making it work. When childhood crush and long-time admirer, Ricardo, finally wins her over, Keisha has it all: power, a love life and the chance for stability. But trauma comes knocking and with it a whirlwind of choices that will define what kind of a woman she truly wants to be. 
 
Told with the heart and soul of the inner city, with an unforgettable heroine, Keisha the Sket is a revelation of the true, raw, arousing and tender core of British youth culture. 
 
Complete with essays from esteemed contemporary writers Candice Carty-Williams, Caleb Femi and Aniefiok Ekpoudom.

In 2005, the author known only as 'Jade' began releasing chapters of Keisha The [Da] Sket on Piczo. The work became a viral sensation, capturing black British culture and youth-authored youth experience. Jade LB is a London-based creative and academic writer whose writing explores black women and relationships, black British culture and the black British working-class experience. One half of The Echo Chamber podcast, she has written articles and essays for Black Ballad and other publications and currently takes up space in academia. Here, she returns to Keisha The Sket, revisiting and amplifying a character she created when she was just thirteen.

Keisha The Sket

‘A true British classic.’ Stormzy

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Keisha the Sket is truly a crucial part of not just Black Brit literature, but British literature as a whole.

Our literary foremother.

Keisha the Sket accidentally decolonised literature.

'Reading Keisha the Sket as an adult makes me swoon at the richness of its nostalgia.

British answer to Gossip Girl.

Keisha the Sket has united a nation and rebirthed a generation of readers who were gripped by the tale of a 'top sket'.

Keisha The Sket feels like an old friend.

A raw portrayal of teenage lust.

A cultural phenomenon.

I'm not sure if we knew it at the time, but KTS was decolonising and demystifying literature for a generation.

About Jade LB

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