Auckland writer Ted Dawe has just won the Young Adult Fiction category of the NZ Post Book Awards. He also won the Best First Book Award. His entry, Thunder Road, sounds like a Bruce Springsteen song in novel form, with its er, controversial lineup of boy racers, drugs, crime, violence and language that "may cause concern". A somewhat heady mix for most West Aucklanders, and I’m sure the rest of the country’s teenage lads will be well up for it, too.

The story is set in Auckland, when a country boy comes up to the big smoke and gets in with the wrong crowd. Street racing becomes his obsession and soon he and his mate are funding their fun by selling drugs. The big boys get to hear and before they know it they are contending with men who are ready to kill to protect their interests.

Hmm. Well, research showing that boys are behind girls in school has parents wanting books that boys are really interested in. I guess it’s a bit of a Catch-22: you want your boys to read, but do you want them to read this? Word is, they’re gonna wanna – a 16-year-old reader on the net said Thunder Road “didn’t suck” and he wanted to “read more stuff like this”. Bingo!

The judges said: “This is a novel that confronts the reader with the powerful and sometimes inexplicable impulses of youth. The reasons that make it sure to be condemned by the conservative are those that give it magnetic appeal and undeniable authenticity. It is a fine achievement.”

Barbara Else, one of said judges, reckons "Young people need books to see what life is like if the boundaries are pushed and they enter a different world. Reading books like this is a safe way for them to learn about scary things… without having to experience them first-hand." And as Ted himself says, “Reading about controversial topics and learning to form opinions is far preferable to reading nothing at all.”

Well… yes. And Ted Dawe has done his homework. Teaching in South Auckland and at Dilworth School, the Auckland School for boys from disadvantaged backgrounds; contributing to Education Department Publications and editing Telling it True: A Collection of Student Writing has put him in the best possible position for telling this story.

I’m certain he’s doing it with the interests of his teenagers at heart… and not because sensationalist writing will pull in the sales in the New Zealand book market - most books will have a print run of only about 3000, earning around $5000 for their authors and making it impossible for most to make a living from writing. And we have it comparatively easy: the British children's market grows by about 10,000 new titles each year! You’d have to be forgiven for adding any oomph you could for your marketing people.

But Ted's managed to do it whilst remaining true to his motives. "I have spent ages asking boys what they like reading, what works, what doesn't and why, to try and solve the riddle of what boys really want,” he says. "Strangely enough, I did not set out to be edgy or controversial. My main concern was to have a book that was terrifically exciting; that reached out and grabbed the reader by the ear and wouldn't let go."

Finally, if there are any male teenagers out there interested in writing, here’s what Ted Dawe says to YOU: “Structure is the most important thing. Style can always be polished. Impact is something you should strive for early on. Insight should come at the end. Every long book begins with one sentence. I guess three more things. Write. Write. Write.”