The book draws heavily on Mounsi's growing up amidst petty crime in the red-belt suburbs and could be seen as a companion piece for films like La Haine.
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Petty crime saw him in borstal, where he discovered his voice as an author after reading the poetry of François Villon.
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Aged seven, his father brought him to live in France, growing up in the red-belt suburb of Nanterre in Paris.