Tripping Back Blue

Gr 10 Up—Finn is a drug dealer who is trying to earn enough money to get his sister out of their dead-end town, Dammerstown, and on to an Ivy League life at Harvard. He's using himself, and his only solace is a kind of meditative bird-watching, but it's not enough for a full escape. When Finn discovers a new drug, indigo, that can take him vividly back to happier times, his life starts to spiral out of control. This is a gritty novel, full of swearing, references to sex, and, of course, lots of drug abuse, best for mature high school students. Fans of A.S. King's Everybody Sees the Ants (Little, Brown, 2011) will enjoy the realistic descriptions and true-to-life dialogue. It has a touch of magic, reminiscent of Laini Taylor's Daughter of Smoke and Bone (Little, Brown, 2011), but is not as fantastical as Taylor's work. Chapters leave cliff-hanger endings for a faster pace that entertains readers.