Monday, November 19, 2007

One for Sorrow by Christopher Barzak

This adult debut novel could have been published as a young adult title. But as I read it, I kept feeling like I had read it before and it's nagging at me to realize what books this reminds me off. I'm not sure. But it really feels like I've read something just like this before.

Adam is a 15 year old messed-up kid already. Then a kid in his class is murdered and his mother is involved in a hit-and-run and is paralyzed. This drives him over the edge. He sees the dead kid's ghost and meets other ghosts. He runs away. Twice. He meets a girl and they fall in love but he doesn't know what to do with love. He wanders around and hits bottom. Hard. Of course, he's redeemed at the end, but you wonder if he's going to make it.

The writing is Ya-ish, but I still want to know what this book reminds me off. Maybe I have just read so many books about dead kid's ghosts and mentally ill teens that they are all running together in my mind?

No comments: