Three teenagers, all alike in misery, but in nothing else. One is boiling over with anger, grief, confusion and contrition as he relives his abandonment by his mother and the death of the little sister left in his (7 year old) care. The next has a grandmother suffering from Alzheimer's, but does not realise, and so spends all his waking hours worrying about what she might be up to next. The third is the daughter of a successful business woman and a heart-throb soap actor, who are constantly at war with each other, while attempting to present a happy, united and quite bogus family picture to the world. Their worlds collide when disaster strikes at the annual fair.

 

 

There are 160 pages in this book.

It is aimed at Young Adult readers. The term Young Adult (YA) is used for books which have the following characteristics: (1) aimed at ages 12-18 years, US grades 7-12, UK school years 8-15, (2) around 50-75k words long, (3) main character is aged 12-18 years, (4) topics include self-reflection, internal conflict vs external, analyzing life and its meaning, (5) point of view is often in the first person, and (6) swearing, violence, romance and sexuality are allowed.

This book was published in 2003 by Andersen Press Ltd .

Rosie Rushton is the award-winning author of numerous books for teenagers published by Piccadilly Press and Puffin. Her books are sold all over the world. She lives in Moulton, Northants.