Liar

I’ve worked with troubled kids and their families for most of my professional life, and it’s true, kids who are chronically abused and betrayed sabotage themselves again and again, even when (and sometimes especially when) they find kindness and the glimmerings of a life and a home they can depend o......more

An outstanding short novel with a great story which is largely character-driven. From the title one might expect something overtly moralizing, but what you get is much more real-life than that. Alex is superb, and the characters around him are excellent - particularly, his grand-parents, and the othe......more

This edgy, pull-no-punches YA novella has a very real-life flavour about it, i.e. less focused on constructing a polished plot vs showing us a section of a teenage boy’s complicated life. Alex has a tough job in this story too, as he tries to come to terms with a number of issues teenagers and grown......more

What a poignant story about a 14-year-old boy raised (and I use that term loosely) by a mother who has so many problems, she can’t be a real mother. And a dad who “gave up” and abandoned his son. Is it any wonder Alex has gotten into so much trouble at such a young age? An excellent YA coming-of-age......more

Alex was dropped off with his grandparents in a small Oregon town. It would have been a fresh start if everybody didn't already know him and what he's capable of. This is his last chance and he doesn't want to blow it, but life is never that easy. Alex's story is sometimes hard to read because we see......more