Bacon, Michelle Life Before, 275 pages. Sky Pony Press, 2016. $17.
Language: R (100+ swears, 12 ‘f’); Mature Content: PG (off page sex, on
page makeouts); Violence: PG-13 (murder, descriptions of abuse).
After years of abuse, Xander’s mother finally left his
father and they have lived peacefully, if modestly, for years. Its only days before high school graduation,
Xander has a chance with a beautiful girl, a great summer, and a new life in
college. But when a woman introduces
herself as his dad’s fiancée, Xander can’t stand it and antagonizes his father
to the point where Dad attacks his mother and kills her. Xander knows that he is next, unless his dad
can becaught. But he’s putting his best
friend and her family in danger, so he makes a desperate choice to run in hopes
of disappearing until Dad is behind bars.
I know there are a lot of content issues with this book, but
it is seriously a compelling read. I
couldn’t look away from Xander’s complicated situation. Bacon does an incredible job of keeping it real
while keep the tension high and giving Xander a chance to survive or screw up
as needed.
HS – OPTIONAL (only because of content issues). Cindy, Library Teacher
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