Adrenaline Crush

In a novel about taking risks, Crompton (The Real Proms Queens of Westfield High) follows a teen's emotional journey as she strives to regain the courage she's lost after a traumatic accident. Whether 17-year-old Dyna is biking, rock-climbing or swimming at the local quarry, she has the reputation of being a daredevil%E2%80%94until a near-fatal fall leaves her with a shattered ankle and terror of getting hurt. Now Dyna clings to things that are safe, including an easy relationship with the protective boy who saved her life (whom she initially describes as "Mr. Serious-bordering-on-lame"). The last thing Dyna wants to do is enter the intense therapeutic program that her mother insists she attend, but it is there, interacting with other scarred victims, that Dyna begins to confront her fears. Dyna's changing sensibility, frustrations, and renewed self-awareness are believable, but situations, themes, and the cast of unconventional characters (particularly Dyna's liberal-minded tattoo-artist father) are a bit too self-consciously drawn. Readers are left with a mixed message about the lengths a person should go to feel a thrill. Ages 12%E2%80%93up. Agent: Ammi-Joan Paquette, Erin Murphy Literary Agency. (Sept.)