NIRVANA'S CHILDREN

In what feels more like a diary than a novel, Australian debut author Ranulfo explores the dark, conflicted heart of the modern teenager, crushed by parental expectations and worldly trappings on one side and a deep feeling that something is very wrong on the other. Napoleon, the narrator, is already completely jaded at 15—the world to him is one giant corporation, its occupants one giant consumer. He admires Kurt Cobain of Nirvana, the rock star who, in his opinion, "made the best exit" (suicide), never mind that he left a child behind. After a run-in with his abusive father, Napoleon leaves home and ends up in the Cross, a dark part of town where unwanted children can find affection of some sort, although usually in the clutches of a paying customer. He falls in with a cult of kids that want to overthrow adult society, and finds true love with a heroin addict named Sammie. As narrator, Napoleon uses spelling and grammatical affectations, rambles, slips in and out of fantasy sequences for no apparent reason; his disdain for Adults is mirrored in the way he ignores the conventions of language, expressing his story however he damn well pleases. Combined with Napoleon's irreverent humor (homeless, he visits a communion service for sustenance, partaking of the host five times—"not a substantial meal. It needs a dip. Salmon or Guacamole"), the attention-getting style makes for a fast read, but unfortunately ends up flattening the characterization of Napoleon. Ages 14-up. (Oct.)