Clean

August 8, 2011
Through the alternating perspectives of five very different protagonists, the author explores the lives of teenagers in a rehabilitation center and the factors driving their addiction. Readers will find their back stories fairly scripted: Jason is an alcoholic with an abusive father and guilt over an accident that left his younger sister brain damaged; rich Olivia's diet pill addiction was driven by her quest for perfectionâand her mother who "decided that fourteen was too old for baby fat." The teens write personal essays, attend group therapy sessions, and become friends as they face their pain and the hard truths about their disease. "It is a permanent chapter in my story, something I cannot undo, a page I cannot rip out," says Kelly, the "pretty girl" addicted to alcohol and cocaine. Reed (Beautiful) delivers some emotional and smart insights, but the book's more dramatic moments, such as Jason's father's bullying behavior during Family Day, lack credibility. The use of multiple narrators results in a briskly paced, vignette-driven story that suits the frenetic lives of the teens, but prevents the characters from feeling fully developed as individuals. Ages 14âup.

July 15, 2011

An affecting drama about five teenagers in an upscale rehab facility for drug addiction.

The story begins with the arrival of Olivia, an anxious rich girl who abuses diet pills. She is placed in a counseling group with four other recognizable characters: an emo goth girl, the angry son of an abusive father, a Christian homeschooler and a hypersexual girl with low self-esteem. Olivia, Eva, Jason, Christopher and Kelly take turns narrating, sometimes in straight prose, sometimes in alternating journal paragraphs on an addiction-related theme. Each chapter is short, and some have no single narrator; facilitated group sessions appear as transcripts, and a few chapters are poemlike pastiches of the five teens' words. The author handles complex issues deftly and honestly, from family dysfunction to attempted rape. Interactions between the teens feel genuine, and the story is aware both of its rarefied setting ("The only things you have going for you are race and money and the fact that someone cares enough about you to get you help," no-nonsense counselor Shirley lectures) and the statistical likelihood that one rehab stint will not end the teens' struggles with addiction.

The hard-hitting scenarios and abundance of white space make this a perfect suggestion for Ellen Hopkins fans. (Fiction. 14 & up)

(COPYRIGHT (2011) KIRKUS REVIEWS/NIELSEN BUSINESS MEDIA, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.)

October 1, 2011

Gr 9 Up-Olivia (Ms. Perfect, who is not addicted to diet pills), Kelly (pretty messed up: alcohol and sex definitely go together), Christopher (homeschooled, church-going, mom's "little angel," possibly gay meth head), Jason (dad not very nice, to say the least), and Eva (talks about herself in dramatic third person) all tell of being in rehab along with the Scary Guys: Gas Man, Satan Worshipper, Heroin Addict, and Compulsive Liar. All appear to be white and mainly middle or upper class. Chapter headings alternate between "Drug & Alcohol History Questionnaire," "Group," "Personal Essay," and the names of the teens. This is a quick, frank read, with humor, information, and action that will keep teens interested. Those who read Reed's Beautiful (S & S, 2009)-and even those who haven't-will be drawn to the great cover, and fans of Ellen Hopkins will love this novel. One quibble, however: a rant by a counselor about race and class is likely to alienate some readers.-Amy Cheney, Alameda County Library, Oakland, CA

Copyright 2011 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

October 1, 2011
Grades 9-12 We're like some drug addict version of that movie The Breakfast Club from the eighties, thinks Christopher, one of five substance abusers now in rehab. That's the high concept behind this sometimes plodding examination of the behavior that has landed these particular five teens in this country club as far as rehabs go. Their stories are told in a variety of ways: first-person narratives, questionnaires, personal essays, conversations in group therapy, and so on. The characters that emerge, however, are less real people than types: the good boy turned bad, the slut, the wealthy anorexic, the tough guy, and the confused and angry girl who is a secret poet. All of this aside, Reed delivers a reasonably accuratethough occasionally didacticaccount of life and recovery in rehab. There are no surprises, but predictability is part of the appeal of this type of book to teens who enjoy reading about souls in torment.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2011, American Library Association.)