Blood Brothers

February 1, 2016
What begins as a cautionary tale about drug addiction expands to address sexual abuse and bullying as well. Nelson (250 Hours) alternates rapidly between the perspectives of Hope Randall, 15, and her older brother, Eric, a onetime rising hockey star who has been kicked out of the house for using meth. Hope has been accepted to an elite private school, and her worries about Eric’s wellbeing compete with her struggles with a clique of cruel girls. The pages are steeped in emotional torment—Hope relies on her angst-ridden poetry to cope with hers, while Eric goes down an increasingly degrading and dangerous path as he searches for his next fix and reckons with the secret abuse that drove him to drugs in the first place. Nelson certainly evokes the desperation of both siblings, but heavy-handed language (“Whatever emotions had been inside me had turned hard, cooked by the meth”) and some less-believable plot details, such as how quickly and fully Hope throws herself into an online relationship with a boy she’s never met or spoken to, are less successful. Ages 12–up. Agent: Harry Endrulat, Rights Factory.

February 1, 2017
Two impoverished teens drift along different paths.Fifteen-year-olds Jakub Kaminsky (white, the son of a Polish-immigrant single father) and Lincoln Bear (a brown-skinned First Nations boy whose family lives off the reservation) are making the best of their small lives. The two friends enjoy going out at night and tagging their neighborhood as Morf and Skar. When Lincoln's brother Henry returns from prison, Lincoln is slowly pulled into Henry's gang, the Red Bloodz. Meanwhile, Jakub gets a free ride to the fancy private school across town. As their lives separate for the first time the two boys face different challenges on their own, and the author smartly assays how even the smallest of choices can lead toward destruction and self-sabotage. The cyclical nature of poverty and despair is a running theme here, ever present and honestly portrayed. Lincoln and Jakub are both distinct, fully formed characters who are supported by a cast of characters that bring out different facets of their personalities and also exemplify how different support systems shape perspective and attitude. The novel has very little humor, but it doesn't dwell in the maudlin either. There's a journalistic "just the facts" approach here that greatly appeals. This straightforward approach lends legitimacy to the novel's final act, one that in lesser hands would come off as over-the-top pulp nonsense. A smartly plotted examination of the despair that keeps people in their places and the hope that pulls them out of it. (Fiction. 14-17)

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January 1, 2017

Gr 8 Up-A friendship forged in the streets is put to the ultimate test in Nelson's urban drama. By day, Jakub and Lincoln are seemingly ordinary teenagers in their down-on-its-luck neighborhood. By night, they assume alternate identities-graffiti artists Morf and Scar-as they paint and tag their way across the city. But then things change: Lincoln's bad-tempered older brother, Henry, comes home from prison at the same time that Jakub is accepted on a scholarship to an exclusive prep school on the other side of town. From there, the two boys go down predictable paths. Jakub buys a secondhand blazer and tries to fit in at the school, while Lincoln begins running the streets for Henry. The story focuses primarily on Lincoln as he follows his brother into a seedy underworld of drugs, stolen cars, and, eventually, murder. Jakub's fish-out-of-water tale at the prep school is almost entirely abandoned as he concentrates instead on dealing with the fallout from Lincoln's bad decision-making. There are no surprises with the plot and characters, some of whom fall into typecast roles: Henry is all bad; Jakub's Polish immigrant father, purely noble. Lincoln's moral dilemmas feel believable, though, as do Jakub's frustrated attempts to help him, and readers who stick with this bleak narrative will be rewarded with an aptly dark ending that gives the book extra emotional weight. VERDICT A good supplement to a high-interest collection for reluctant teen readers.-Bobbi Parry, East Baton Rouge Parish School System, LA

Copyright 2017 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

February 1, 2017
Grades 9-12 Best friends Jakub and Lincoln spend their evenings tagging buildings as Morf and Skar. Jakub lives with his disabled Polish immigrant father in a rooming house, while Link's older brother, Henry, runs with the Red Bloodz. The boys thought they'd be best friends until one day everything changes: Jakub gets admitted to the prestigious St. Bart's while Link's brother convinces him to start lifting cars for his chop shop. When Henry goes too far and pushes Link to participate in a roughing up that results in murder, Link turns to Jakub for help. Unable to turn his best friend in to the police, Jakub tags to release his frustrations. When Henry realizes the tags are Jakub's art, Link is forced to bring in his best friend to prove his loyalty to the Bloodzor else. While slow to start, Nelson crafts an engaging story about two boys struggling to survive, both of whom are presented a different path to take. Readers looking for a gritty story about true friendship and the consequences of one's actions will enjoy this offering.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2017, American Library Association.)