Pigeon English, by Stephen Kelman
This was one of the most engaging novels I have read in the last ten years. It is told in first person narrative by Harrison Okupu, an eleven year old immigrant to England from Ghana, who lives in the public housing tenements of London. Though living amid the dangers and squalor of his environment Harrison has a positive outlook on life and his eyes see only the beauty and promise of life. His dialect is beautifully rendered and his limited worldview is both comical and profound.
I can heartily recommend this book, a book in which even tragedy is rendered, through Harrison's voice, with harmonies and in rainbow colored hues.