Rivet Boy

By: Barbara Henderson

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Paperback | 30 September 2025

At a Glance

Format
Paperback

Age
8 - 12

Dimensions(cm)
20 x 13 x 1

Paperback

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It's 1899, and 12-year-old John Nicol has got a job at the Forth Bridge construction site. John knows it's dangerous – four boys have already fallen from the bridge into the river below – but with his father gone, he must provide an income for his family. At first, John gets to stay on land, and he even makes a new friend, Cora, and a squirrel companion, Rusty. Then he's assigned to a Rivet Gang on the bridge itself. John is terrified of heights, but he's even more afraid of his new boss, Cain Murdoch, a notorious bully who is determined to get John off the bridge in any way he can ...

Based on real people and events, Rivet Boy blends fact and fiction to tell the story of one boy's role in the building of the iconic Forth Bridge– Scotland's greatest hand-built wonder.

About the Author

Inverness-based Barbara Henderson is the author of historical novels including The Siege of Caerlaverock, which won the Historical Association's Young Quills Award for the best children's historical fiction in 2021 and The Chessmen Thief, which was shortlisted in 2022. Barbara shares her home with one teenage son, one long-suffering husband and a scruffy Schnauzer called Merry.

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