This complex and original novel about modern Britain brings together two stars of the children’s literary world: Sarah Crossan won the Carnegie Medal for One, and Brian Conaghan’s The Bombs That Brought Us Together won this year’s Costa Children’s Book of the Year award. Collaborations can be a tricky business, but this one flows effortlessly between the distinct voices of two very different teenagers, Romanian immigrant Nicu and troubled British girl Jess.

The book is written in a series of free verse poems, a format that is unusual in YA fiction, but it makes for a surprisingly compulsive read: every word counts and carries emotion and power.

Nicu has recently arrived in England with his parents. His experience is one of loneliness and barriers; the racism he encounters is from teachers as much as other teenagers. Jess has her own problems: a difficult home life stained by domestic violence. The two are thrown together picking litter for a local community scheme and a hesitant relationship develops. Nicu’s voice is disarmingly honest and often funny, while Jess is guarded and less easily likable. We are rooting for them from the off. Their lives become enmeshed and before long we sense that they are hurtling towards an inevitable, heartbreaking conclusion.

This year sees a new wave of children’s and young adult fiction inspired by current events, and this is very much a book written against the backdrop of Brexit Britain, the prejudice, racism and alienation all too recognisable. The outlook may seem bleak, but don’t be put off: this beautifully crafted novel has genuine joy at its heart for the light and hope that friendship can bring in a chaotic, unpredictable world.

• We Come Apart by Sarah Crossan and Brian Conaghan is published by Bloomsbury (£12.99). To order a copy for £9.74 go to bookshop.theguardian.com or call 0330 333 6846. Free UK p&p over £10, online orders only. Phone orders min p&p of £1.99