No Going Back

On a Friday, 17-year-old Antonio Echeverria Sullivan secures an early release from a Washington state youth detention center for a crime that his father implicated him in. His parole officer schedules a meeting with Antonio on Monday to go over parole terms, but as the weekend progresses, external forces work against him and test his resolve to stay on the straight and narrow. Seeking to make amends with his Uruguayan mother and childhood best friend Maya, Antonio yearns to obtain redemption and absolution, and to start over. Past associates jeopardize his freedom and refuse to leave him alone until he divulges the location of an item that he hid before his arrest, and all the while Antonio contends with his mother’s serious illness, which CPS cited as the reason they put him in his abusive and manipulative father’s custody in the first place. Poetic flashbacks by Flores-Scott (American Road Trip) detail Antonio’s downward spiral while also presenting his reflections about the world around him, and time-stamped chapters add urgency, intensity, and excitement as the thrilling plot progresses, making for a page-turning story about forgiveness and personal evolution. Ages 14–up. Agent: Steven Chudney, Chudney Agency. (Apr.)