Freaks and Revelations

by Davida Wills Hurwin

Overview

This raw, moving novel follows two teenagers-one, a Mohawk-wearing 17-year-old violent misfit; the other, a gay 13-year-old cast out by his family, hustling on the streets and trying to survive. Acclaimed author Davida Wills Hurwin creates a riveting narrative told in alternating perspectives of their lives before and after the violent hate crime that changed both their futures. This tragic but ultimately inspirational journey of two polarized teens, their violent first meeting, and their peaceful reunion years later is an unforgettable story of survival and forgiveness.
This story is inspired by the real lives of Matthew Boger and Timothy Zaal, who have shared their story on The Oprah Winfrey Show and NPR.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780316071758
Publisher:	Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Publication date:	04/08/2025
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	252
File size:	830 KB
Age Range:	15 - 18 Years

About the Author

Davida Wills Hurwin is the author of A Time for Dancing (an ALA Best Book for Young Adults) and The Farther You Run. She teaches theater at Crossroads School for Arts and Sciences and lives in Southern California with her husband and daughter.

Editorial Reviews

Tattooed, abused, racist, shaven-headed Doug smokes, drinks and travels with a pack of thuggish, troublemaking punks in Los Angeles. Kicked out of his religious mother's home for being gay, Jason lives on his own on the streets of San Francisco, earning his wages on street corners and befriending a pack of fellow teen male prostitutes. Chapter titles grimly count down to the two boys' inevitable and no doubt violent meeting. Hurwin's latest may sound like the perfect, gritty survival story that reluctant readers would love to sink their teeth into, but her motherly tone doesn't match either plotline or the voices of its characters, especially early on, in the emotionally tenderized descriptions of Doug's abuse by his father ("I hate that she says that word. It make me think that we're still not safe"). If readers can get past the schmaltz, they will find some genuine instances of street-smart edginess. Before they know it, the brutal climax-which should come as no surprise-is upon them. A sappy and cautionary denouement follows. A yawner of a story based on true events. (Fiction. YA)

Kirkus Reviews