Canned by Alex Shearer

For Kids 11 and up

Fergal Bamfield has a very strange collection. He doesn’t collect stamps or toy cars. No. He collects tin cans. And not just any tin cans; he collects cans without labels. But one day, when he opens one of his cans he finds something gruesome: a human finger. Then he finds another can, containing a one-word message, “HELP!”

I found it interesting how Fergal thought about the un-labeled cans. He likes the idea of how anything could be in those cans. It could be something cool or something disappointing. You might find that weird but there are those mystery boxes with surprise toys in them and people buy those. It’s the same concept. 

I really wasn’t sure what to expect from this book. When I read the inside cover and read that he finds something weird in a can I really wanted to know what he found. I was guessing a human limb or cash or something even weirder. I guess when I read the inside cover my eyes skipped over the word ‘finger’.

This book does get a bit disturbing. And I read some really disturbing books so that’s a lot coming from me.

After this book, you will never look at a tin can the same way every again.