The Reading Warehouse

Action-packed from first page to last, this contemporary tale of a "deal-gone-wrong" rotates among six New York teenagers, including Cam, the instigator of a plan to sell drugs at a suburban party; Byron, his partner in crime; and Jimmy, who's just looking for a good time. The first stroke of bad fortune occurs when the boys' car crashes into a deer. Presuming Cam to be dead, his companions flee and are eventually separated. From that point on, Byron, Jimmy, and Cam (who survives with only minor injuries) embark on very different adventures, with danger and surprises around nearly every corner. The book's message, which remains hazy until the last few pages when ironies come to light, is overshadowed by bizarre events—cat-and-mouse chases, miraculous recoveries, convoluted plot twists, and farfetched confrontations. Lerangis (the Drama Club series) particularly delights in metaphor—one character's Long Island accent is "thick as Manischewitz," and the boys' ill-fated car "was a big What's-Wrong-with-This scenario." But while suspenseful, the book comes off as gimmicky, straining too hard to be hip. Both the characters and their motives remain underdeveloped. Ages 14–up. (Nov.)

Gr 9 Up—Shortly after nine p.m. on a Friday evening in October, things fall apart for six young adults tangled together by drug deals, debts, and greed. The cinematic narrative flashes forward and back and alternates among the various characters' viewpoints over the course of one night. Lerangis's novel demonstrates how one stupid decision can have a wicked snowball effect that leaves everyone asking, "WTF"? Except that, more times than not, the acronym is not used. Fans of David Levithan and Rachel Cohn's Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist (Knoft, 2006) will appreciate this even faster paced, smart-aleck-toned partying misadventure, and the steady action and short chapters will appeal to reluctant readers. The only real downfall is the enigmatic ending. Fortunately, the epilogue, which reads like a movie postscript, more than makes up for that flaw.—Terri Clark, Smoky Hill Library, Centennial, CO