Flinn, Alex. Nothing to lose.HarperCollins. 288p. c2004. 0-06-051750-6. $15.99. (Library: 0-06-051751-4. $16.89.) S A year ago, Michael ran away from his Florida home to become a carny car·ny also car·ney n. pl. car·nies also car·neys Informal 1. A traveling amusement show; a carnival. 2. One who works with a carnival. , running the Whack-a-Mole game and trying to leave behind the memory of his stepfather step·fa·ther n. The husband of one's mother and not one's natural father. stepfather Noun a man who has married one's mother after the death or divorce of one's father Noun 1. lying dead on the floor and his mother covered in blood. The memory of beautiful Kristie, a fellow carny, also haunts him, as the narration shifts back and forth between events in the present and those of the previous year. Now the carnival carnival, communal celebration, especially the religious celebration in Catholic countries that takes place just before Lent. Since early times carnivals have been accompanied by parades, masquerades, pageants, and other forms of revelry that had their origins in is back in Miami, and his mother is about to go on trial for murdering her husband. With the help of a sympathetic female attorney, 17-year-old Michael realizes that he must come forward at last to tell what he knows, in order to save his mother. He must also try to forgive her for putting up with all the physical abuse his stepfather dished dished adj. 1. Concave. 2. Slanting toward one another at the bottom. Used of a pair of wheels. Adj. 1. dished - shaped like a dish or pan dish-shaped, patelliform concave - curving inward out, and forgive himself for not protecting her better. Flinn, a former attorney herself who worked with families affected by domestic violence and author of the YA novels Breathing Underwater and Breaking Point, offers here yet another powerful story about anger, violence and their consequences. The details of carny life will draw readers, and the plot is suspenseful sus·pense n. 1. The condition of being physically suspended. 2. a. The state or quality of being undecided, uncertain, or doubtful. b. . Like Chris Crutcher Chris Crutcher is a contemporary American fiction writer and a family therapist. Biography Crutcher was born to a World War II bomber pilot and a homemaker on July 17, 1946, in Dayton, Ohio. They later moved to Cascade, Idaho, where Crutcher grew up. , another YA author who writes from a deep knowledge of disturbed youth (based in his case on his experience as a teacher, family therapist, and child protection specialist), Flinn doesn't hesitate to tackle disturbing topics and succeeds in making the experiences and emotions of her protagonists realistic and gripping. Paula Rohrlick, KLIATT |
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