The Tragic Age

Seventeen-year-old Billy Kinsey has a low opinion of the world, the result of watching too much television, seeing how wealth has rendered his parents empty and purposeless, and grieving the death of his twin, Dorie, who died when they were 11. Then Twom, a muscly troublemaker, enters the picture. Eventually, Billy, Twom, Twom’s girlfriend, and Billy’s geeky neighbor start breaking into houses in their affluent San Diego community. They don’t steal; they just try on other lives. Around that time, Gretchen, Dorie’s onetime best friend, comes back to town. Suddenly Billy has friends and a girlfriend, both of which mess with his negative worldview, but the good (Gretchen) is too good to last, and the bad (breaking and entering) escalates. Billy makes for a mordant, smart, and angry protagonist, but when debut author Metcalfe, a screenwriter and playwright, amps up the melodrama with a car chase, a shooting, and a Grand Guignol ending that dooms some while reawakening Billy, readers may feel some of the cynicism that Billy has shed. Ages 14–up. Agent: Linda Chester, Linda Chester and Associates. (Mar.)