Dare Me
This follow-up to Tap Out (2012) should further establish Devine as a go-to author for gritty stories about guys fighting on the fringe. It begins as “the best senior prank ever”: 10 months of dangerous dares uploaded to YouTube and performed anonymously by 17-year-old Ben and his buddies John and Ricky. But after their first stunt—car surfing—goes viral, a mysterious businessman offers them a contract to increase the danger of each dare in return for $1 per page view. Right away a stunt goes bad, but leader Ricky won’t let the other two back out. If they do, they will have to return the cash, which each of them desperately needs. Add in a side story about a girl Ben likes who is suffering physical abuse and you have a boa constrictor of a plot that squeezes the protagonist to wild, desperate ends. Certain arguments and discussions do get repeated (someone should read that contract!), but that takes little away from Devine’s wonderfully inarticulate characters and subtle insight into our culture of quick but damaging fame. Grades 9-12. --Daniel Kraus