Coming Clean

April 1, 2013

Gr 7 Up-These titles feature well-intentioned teens in tough situations. In Coming Clean, Rob's golden opportunity to pursue his passion for music leads to unintentional involvement with drug deals and the death of a friend due to an Ecstasy overdose. Dead Run focuses on Sam, who loves bike racing. His gig as a bicycle courier becomes more than he bargained for when his boss asks him to deliver secret packages to a sketchy location. In Shallow Grave, Elliot is wrongly accused of a prank and ends up cleaning an old boathouse with a female classmate as punishment. The spirit of a deceased teen speaks to them through a Ouija board, and they struggle to untangle her messages. All three protagonists are unquestionably good people; their choices are what get them in trouble. Brief, current, and fast paced, these books will be enjoyed by reluctant teen readers.-Amanda Moss Struckmeyer, Middleton Public Library, WI

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