Don Aker

17-year-old young offender Reef Kennedy is forced to accept responsibility when a chain of events and his careless actions causes him to injure 17-year-old Leeza Hemming. Sentenced to live in a group home for a year and to do volunteer time with people undergoing rehabilitation, Reef begins to reflect on his life choices, especially when he is inadvertently teamed up with Leeza.
I enjoyed the flow and the storyline of this book. It captivated my interest from cover to cover. It does contain language that could be offensive to some people and may not be suitable for younger readers; however, teenagers who do not use these words are few and far between.... A believable, modern day story about fate, consequences and hopefully redemption. Anxious to begin the sequel "Fifth Rule."… (meer)

It’s a young adult novel, which has made it into the White Pine (best Canadian Grade 10-12 reading) finals this year. It’s about an almost 18- year- old Jace who is going to Mexico to ‘get laid’ for his birthday present. Or, at least this is what he thinks he is going there for, since he is almost eighteen and has never had sex. In the end, he does go there for a reason, no doubt, but not the reason he had thought.
The book has good themes: loss, inability to communicate, importance of grieving, stereotyping, prejudice, being different, homosexuality, loneliness and dealing with it all. It’s well written, but not spectacularly so- it didn’t really grip me, and took me over a month to finish.
… (meer)