Finding Hope

What begins as a cautionary tale about drug addiction expands to address sexual abuse and bullying as well. Nelson (250 Hours) alternates rapidly between the perspectives of Hope Randall, 15, and her older brother, Eric, a onetime rising hockey star who has been kicked out of the house for using meth. Hope has been accepted to an elite private school, and her worries about Eric’s wellbeing compete with her struggles with a clique of cruel girls. The pages are steeped in emotional torment—Hope relies on her angst-ridden poetry to cope with hers, while Eric goes down an increasingly degrading and dangerous path as he searches for his next fix and reckons with the secret abuse that drove him to drugs in the first place. Nelson certainly evokes the desperation of both siblings, but heavy-handed language (“Whatever emotions had been inside me had turned hard, cooked by the meth”) and some less-believable plot details, such as how quickly and fully Hope throws herself into an online relationship with a boy she’s never met or spoken to, are less successful. Ages 12–up. [em]Agent: Harry Endrulat, Rights Factory. (Apr.) [/em]