I was late to the party anyway because I only discovered Conaghan last year when I read and loved Treacle Town, and then picked up Cardboard Cowboys. Stealing Happy falls perfectly in-between the two in terms of audience; it's perfect for year 8/9.
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13 year old Sonny needs to find a way to fix the mess his family is in. His dad has been on long term sick leave because he has long covid, and his mum has turned to notorious local loan shark/drug dealer, Chick Lennon, for a loan to cover the rent. The problem is Chick Lennon wants interest and threatens to get Sonny involved if he doesn't get it. Sonny, along with his friends Jonah and Carolina, come up with a mad plan to get their hands on the cash, but there's a lot that could go wrong and Sonny's Tourette's isn't helping matters.
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This is a pitch perfect novel, balancing the serious undertones of chronic illness, neurodiversity, and even county lines, with the sometimes outlandish tongue-in-cheek humour Conaghan is known for. Sonny is an extremely lovable character and his Tourette's gives his narrative a unique edge while providing important representation for an underrepresented experience.
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I'll be using this A LOT in year 8 and 9 booktalks.

I loved the unique voice of the main character, an autistic teen who expresses his anxiety in the most unhelpful ways! Reading this gave me insight, and although it was humorous it delved deeply into the challenges he faced.

The plot wasn't bad, but there wasn't quite enough of it for a book of this length, so it started to feel rather drawn-out and couldn't hold my attention.