Heartbreaking. Very good story. Scary. ( )

Using a current hot button issue and putting a realistic face to it, is not a new way to come up with a plot, but Vaught makes her characters believable and likable. After an unfortunate incident 3 years ago, 17 year old Del suffers from the results of a ridiculous and over-zealous felony conviction. Frozen by lack of choices, as well as fear of making bad ones, Del struggles to figure out if he even has a future.
While this book does deal with (as already stated) a hot button issue, I didn't feel as if Vaught was writing the book thinking, "ahhh, this can be used in classrooms and children and adults can learn from it and the world will be a better place." This is refreshing and earns the book 4 stars. That being said, the book actually will provoke good discussions and may actually help kids make better choices (just don't sext, kids!) ( )

Actual rating: 3.5 stars ( )

Review from ARC from co-worker (probably originally from publisher)

I was worried that some of the subject matter might squick me, but for the most part it was okay. ( )

I loved the graveyard setting, there is something so intriguing about graveyards. I loved the ending, the plot was too simple it could be beefed up. It definitely kept my attention. Q4P4 AHS/Kathleen R.