Hard Hit
Grade 8 Up–As inLearning to Swim(Scholastic, 2000), Turner addresses an intense subject in lyrical poetry. Mike, 16, has the perfect life–star baseball player, cute girlfriend, and loyal best friend–until the phone call that turns his life upside down. His father has pancreatic cancer. While his friends continue to live their lives, time stands still for Mike. His dad suffers through and begins the wasting away that cancer causes. A short period of remission brings a brief period of celebration. In the end, however, Mike finds that his bargains with God and his attempts to get along better with his sister are all for naught. His father dies and he must find a way to go on with his life. Teens who have experienced serious illness and/or death in their family or with close friends will relate to Turners profound novel that traces the journey of one young man through the stages of grief and recovery. National help lines, addresses, and Web sites are included for readers who need them.–Kathryn Childs, Morris Mid/High School, OKCopyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.