Rebel, Bully, Geek, Pariah

by Erin Jade Lange

Overview

The Rebel: Once popular, Andi is now a dreadlocked and tattooed wild child.
The Bully: Sick of being the less favorite son, York bullies everyone, especially his brother.
The Geek: Boston, York's brother, and obsessed with getting into an Ivy League school.
The Pariah: Sam, now that her mom is sober, she just wants to get through one day at a time.

Andi, Sam, York, and Boston find themselves in the woods together when a party gets busted by the cops. Trying to run rather than get caught, they hop into the nearest car they see and take off . . . until they realize the car they've taken has a trunk is full of stolen drugs. Now they must rely on each other or risk their lives. Should they run or turn themselves in? Would anyone even believe the drugs aren't theirs? Every decision could determine the rest of their lives . . . but how can any of them trust people they barely know.

In a cinematic, heart-pounding race against time, four teens learn more about one other in a few hours than they ever knew in all the years they attended school together. And what they find out isn't at all what any of them expected . . .

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781619634992
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Publishing
Publication date:	02/16/2016
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	304
File size:	542 KB
Age Range:	14 Years

About the Author

Erin Jade Lange is the author of Dead Ends and Butter, an ABC New Voices selection. As a journalist, she is inspired by current events and real-world issues and uses her writing to explore how those issues impact teenagers. Erin lives in Phoenix, Arizona.
www.butterslastmeal.com
@erinjadelange.

Editorial Reviews

With the backdrop of life-threatening peril, unlikely friendships are forged and secrets revealed in a long, difficult day for the protagonists . . . A suspenseful ride, full of twists, turns, and revelations, both personal and related to the caper.” —VOYA

“Give this to readers who enjoy action-packed crime dramas spiced with a little danger and a healthy dash of heart.” —BCCB

“Lange keeps tension high as the situation quickly escalates from bad to worse . . . a fast-paced read with a gripping blend of suspense and emotion.” —Publishers Weekly

“A new contemporary thriller that's part Breakfast Club, part Breaking Bad . . . Lange's story is gripping . . . Well paced, with twists and turns that will take readers by surprise.” —Booklist

“Lange drives the narrative forward with a sense of suspense and excitement . . . for libraries looking to enhance their action/adventure offerings.” —School Library Journal

“A broad emotional story.” —Kirkus Reviews

“Lange keeps the plot twisting . . . As in her debut novel, Lange deftly blends big issues (bullying, special needs, abuse) into a story of two imperfect, memorable characters.” —Booklist on DEAD ENDS

“Lange writes realistically about teens with rough lives, and readers will believe in the friendships, feel Billy's pain of abandonment, and appreciate the honesty of the not-tied-up-with-a-bow ending.” —School Library Journal on DEAD ENDS

“Lange weaves a beautiful and believable tale of friendship for readers of any age who can appreciate the challenges of everyday life.” —Library Media Connection on DEAD ENDS

“A fast-moving tale tailor-made for reading in study hall, when a road trip of any kind sounds really good.” —BCCB on DEAD ENDS

“Using current, hot-button topics—cyberbullying, obesity, and teen suicide—the author weaves a compelling tale sure to draw teens in.” —starred review, School Library Journal on BUTTER

“Lange's emotionally expansive first novel is dark, funny, painful, and powerful.” —Publishers Weekly on BUTTER

“The premise alone is enough to break your heart . . . This is no doubt a strong, gutsy debut.” —Booklist on BUTTER

“While this is definitely an anti-bullying book, it carries a weighty message without didacticism.” —Library Media Connection on BUTTER

From the Publisher

2015-11-03
When the rebellious Andi draws good-girl Sam out of her comfort zone and to a party in the woods, the pair encounters bellicose brothers York and Boston. Naturally the party's busted, and the foursome escapes by stealing a handy SUV—which turns out to be a cop car. And the cop car has a whole bunch of drugs in the car already. The group heads to York and Boston's family cabin in the woods to cool off and regroup. Tensions flare, tragic histories are revealed, and friendships are forged in Lange's ambitious novel. Lange goes big and broad with the stakes and her characters but does a good job of slowly escalating the action and making the crazy situation credible. The novel's biggest weakness is its decision to make Sam the narrator: she spends a lot of time in her own head, dwelling on her tragic past and refusing to say or do anything. Obviously this is meant to emphasize her transformation when she finally steps up during the book's climax, but readers have to go through far too many pages of inaction to get there. The author also tinkers with the timeline a bit, isolating flashbacks and flash-forwards that add little to the narrative and actually work against the building tension. It's a broad emotional story with interesting bits and pieces, but it doesn't work as a whole. (Fiction. 14-18)

Kirkus Reviews