C. Lee McKenzie
Contemporary Teen w/Romantic Elements
Sixteen-year-old Hutchinson McQueen
is a big time loser. Trapped between an abusive mother and an absentee father,
his one thought is escape, but everything he does to get away lands him in
trouble.
Shackled by
poor reading skills, he squeaks through classes with his talent for
eavesdropping and memorizing what he hears. When he shoplifts and lands in
juvenile detention, the court sentences him to a county youth program. There he
meets the priest and Maggie, a retired teacher. They’re determined to set Hutch
on a path leading away from trouble. Hutch is determined not to cooperate.
It isn’t
until he’s facing serious charges that he confronts the truth—his own bad
choices are trapping him. When he's offered the freedom he craves, all he has
to do is take it.
Excerpt:
Kranski’s
office might as well be home. I spend more time with him than I do with Dee
Dee, and for good reason: the principal’s friendlier than my mom.
I ease into
the familiar hot seat across from him and face the shiny nameplate on his desk.
“See this?”
he says, holding up the plate in front of my face. “It says, ‘Principal Noah
Kranski.’ That means you’re supposed to follow my rules as long as you’re in
this school.”
I roll my
eyes.
“Dump the
attitude, Hutch.”
I shrug.
He shakes
his head and slams a thick file down in front of him. “This makes seven times
this year you’ve cut Mr. Diakos’s class, and it’s only September.” He writes
something at the bottom of a page. When he finishes, he looks up. “Did I miss
any?”
“I’m not
counting.” That ain’t true. I count every day I can escape that stupid class,
just like I count every day I wake up in Larkston. But I’m not going to be
trapped here much longer.
Kranski jabs
his pen into a “World’s Best Dad” cup, and leans back with his hands behind his
head. This is what he always does before he sentences me. “You get to
think about changing your ways for the rest of the week. When you come back,
you’re still responsible for all the class work and the tests, just like
always.”
“Just like
always.” I repeat the words so I got something to say that don’t sound like I’m
a smart mouth. Last time I left saying, “Thanks,” and Kranski told me to cut
the sarcasm. Who gives a rat’s ass about what Kranski says? I’m free, for
four days.
I’m almost
at the door when the secretary pops her head inside. “Sorry, Mr. Kranski, but
there’s an emergency in the gym. They need you right away.”
He’s out
before me, a gimpy old guy running on bad feet.
I plug into
my iPod, pull up The Rockets’ newest hit, and strike out across campus.
Blaze’ll be at the Smoking Tree. I follow the hard-packed foot trail that leads
from the back of the school, around the curve of the hillside and up the slope.
The tree’s just far enough away to keep under Kranski’s radar, yet near enough
to drop in for a few tokes when I need them to get through Deek the Greek’s
English class, or face going back to Palm Street and Dee Dee.
Blaze is
there, talking on his cell and dealing with some kid with slicked-back hair.
Blaze jerks around, pockets the phone, and then relaxes when he sees me. “Yo,
thought you was the cops for a minute. You get suspended again?”
“Rest of the
week.” I take my ear bud out, drop my backpack and plop onto the shady ground.
“I need a joint.”
“Where’d you
get that?” He points to my iPod.
“Can’t
remember. It sort of appeared.”
“Right.” He
smirks and tosses me a joint along with a lighter.
The kid with
the greased hair ducks under a limb, and walks in the direction of the school.
“Hope you got cash, man. I’m outta credit here,” Blaze says.
I dig into
my pocket and pull out a ten.
He laughs.
“With what you already owe me, for that ten,” he coughs, “you get a
few”––another cough––“hits, man.” He holds out a roach clip with a smoking
joint. “Give me that one back.”
I hand him
the joint, settle against the tree trunk and roll my lips over the small brown
tube. Closing my eyes, I suck the warm fog into my lungs and hold my breath.
The weed winds its way through my blood and into my brain. Kranski turns into a
cartoon of a cup with World’s Best Dad wrapped around his
middle. Dee Dee stretches into a giant beer bottle and rolls across the kitchen
linoleum. The sky turns soft and blue, with the Smoking Tree splashing crazy
shapes over my jeans.
“So, how are
you breaking the news to Dee Dee this time?” Blaze reaches out and grabs his
joint. “She said she was bouncing your butt the next time Kranski suspended
you.”
My mom don’t
care what I do, but Kranski makes her life hell when he calls her in to see
him. These trips to his office take away from her social life and shake her out
of bed before noon. I laugh. “Guess I’ll have to move in with you, dude.”
“Anytime. I
told you, man.” Blaze inhales, coughs, and then inhales again to replace the
gray smoke he’s wasted in the air.
I plug back
into some tunes and hang with Blaze under the Smoking Tree through three more
sales. He rewards me with a few hits for acting as lookout, something I can do
while I get a story together for why I’m bounced for four days. The weed and
the Rockets take the edge off what’s going down later. I’m in for ‘Destruction
by Dee Dee’ no matter what I say. I roll over on my right side and trace the
white line from my wrist to my elbow—one of her nicer moves with a broken
glass.
Stretching
out on the lawn, I stare up through the tree branches. How’d it be to fly
straight into those clouds, poke my head inside and stay until I wind up on the
other side of the world? Goodbye, Larkston. Goodbye, Dee Dee.
I must doze
off because when I open my eyes the shadows from the tree have shifted from my
right side to my left. I squint at my watch. It’s after three. My ride! Hope
Eddie didn’t
take off without me. I hate that walk, halfway across town to Palm Street. I
grab my books. “I’m
out of here.”
About the
Author:
C. Lee McKenzie is a native
Californian who grew up in a lot of different places; then landed in the Santa
Cruz Mountains where she lives with her family and miscellaneous pets. She
writes most of the time, gardens and hikes and does yoga a lot, and then
travels whenever she can.
She takes on
modern issues that today's teens face in their daily lives. Her first young
adult novel, Sliding on the Edge, which dealt with cutting and
suicide was published in 2009. Her second, titled The Princess of Las
Pulgas, dealing with a family who loses everything and must rebuild their
lives came out in 2010. Her short story,Premeditated Cat, appears in the
anthology, The First Time, and her Into the Sea of Dew is
part of a collection, Two and Twenty Dark Tales.
In 2012, her first middle grade novel, Alligators Overhead, came
out.Double Negative is her third young adult novel.
My Review:
This was a book that teens can relate to and it teaches a good message. To know that your choices impact your future is important when making tough decisions.I also liked that the author made sure that teens know they can change their future. Life is not easy,but our future is what we make it. I am giving this book a 4/5. I was given a copy to review, however all opinions are my own.
This was a book that teens can relate to and it teaches a good message. To know that your choices impact your future is important when making tough decisions.I also liked that the author made sure that teens know they can change their future. Life is not easy,but our future is what we make it. I am giving this book a 4/5. I was given a copy to review, however all opinions are my own.
Giveaway
(4) $10 Amazon gift cards
(10) Double Negative ebook copies
Hi thanks for the giveaway, book looks great
ReplyDeleteThe book looks good thank you
ReplyDeleteSounds awesome. Thanks for the chance!
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