sinister is unforgettable." -- Toronto Star "Enthralling.... A trenchant and thought-provoking work of fiction." -- Winnipeg Free Press "A deeply beautiful book." -- Edmonton Journal "Compelling.... An exploration of the quiet desperation of teenagers on the edge of adulthood...." -- Globe and Mail "Spare, lucid, haunting and overlaid with melancholy. . . . It's a terrific performance.... Bergen is simply too good and too clear-eyed a writer to ever circle around the truth of his subject. His subject here, the emotional and physical lives of teenagers, is revealed as both sad and perplexing.... A deeply beautiful book." -- Edmonton Journal "Goes well beyond the traditional coming-of-age chronicle to pose problems of loss and rejection and to set these questions against the uncertainties of young adulthood.... The book is well written and insightful and captures the clamour, chaos and fractured idiom of youth as it passes into adulthood. As a commentary on the priorities of the young, The Case of Lena S. ranks high indeed." -- London Free Press "Bergen's language flows and his descriptions are tantalizing." -- FFWD After reading The Case of Lean S., I am struck that a satisfying "coming of age" story can have a great significance for the reader who feels the youthful search for identity is past. The sensitive sixteen year old Mason Crowe explores opportunities which will be lost in adulthood. He seeks a meaningful life. While admiring his English teacher, he gives critical observations about the superficial values of his older brother's life.