Desire Lines

Description

A startling teenage novel about moral choices. Sixteen-year-old Walker has accidentally discvered that two female classmates are lovers. When a rabid evangelical preacher arrives in their town, a witch-hunt is launched against gay students and Walker, for some reason, is the prime target. Walker knows the quickest way to divert the attention would be to give away the girls' secret - but should he sacrifice their peace of mind for his? A powerful, unusual and thought-provoking read from an award-winning author.

Jack Gantos was born in Norvelt, Pennsylvania, and has spent time living in Barbados and South Florida. He has written books for readers of all ages, including the acclaimed Joey Pigza Swallowed the Key and its sequels, the teenage novel Desire Lines, and the youthful memoire Hole in My Life. His is also the writer of Dead End in Norvelt and From Norvelt to Nowhere, a pair of semi-autobiographical novels about the importance of history and reading, the first of which won the prestigious Newbery Medal in 2012. He lives with his wife and daughter in Boston, Massachusetts.

Desire Lines has both depth and meaning and explores the more serious side of life in an accessible, interesting way * Teen Titles * A powerful and compelling book. * Children's book News Ireland * It is moving and memorable. . . Most of all, it is the analysis of Walker's own self-doubt, anxiety and pain that makes this such a raw if depressing novel -- David Self * TES * A darker, older read, which encompasses good, evil, resistance to temptation, homophobia and the collapse of civilisation . . . written in a prose as assured as Scott Fitzgerald's -- Michael Thorn * Scotsman * Reminiscent of Cormier * Inis *