THE BRIMSTONE JOURNALS
Ron Koertge
Candlewick Press
Young Adult
ISBN: 0763617423
128 pages

Welcome to Branston High, nicknamed Brimstone by it students. As in "fire and brimstone." As in Hell. And if they don't act fast, a demon will break loose.

Through a series of short, journal-like poems, acclaimed author Koertge catapults us into the lives of some Branston students. The cast of characters is all too familiar and almost too dysfunctional --- each with their own burdens to bear. There's the fat kid, the smart kid, the rich kid, the anorexic, the jock, and so on. Rounding out the mix is Boyd. Left to his own devices by his alcoholic father, Boyd has became a white supremacist with a major chip on his shoulder.

Tension within the school is mounting. Mercilessly, Boyd compiles a list of people he hates, his "hit list," student by student. And around him, everybody else's problems are ripping them apart. You'll have to read this inventive and engrossing poem-novel to find out what ultimately happens. THE BRIMSTONE JOURNALS explores the timely and all too real topic of teen violence in a story that is as haunting as it is illuminating.

   --- Reviewed by Tammy L. Currier

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