Tricks

by Ellen Hopkins

Genres: YA Family; YA Coming of Age; YA Social Themes; YA LGBT & Pride; YA Literary Fiction

Synopsis

When all choice is taken from you, life becomes a game of survival.

Five teenagers from different parts of the country. Three girls. Two guys. Four straight. One gay. Some rich. Some poor. Some from great families. Some with no one at all. All living their lives as best they can, but all searching . . . for freedom, safety, community, family, love. What they don't expect, though, is all that can happen when those powerful little words "I love you" are said for all the wrong reasons.

Five moving stories remain separate at first, then interweave to tell a larger, powerful story, a story about making choices, taking leaps of faith, falling down, and growing up. A story about kids figuring out what sex and love are all about, at all costs, while asking themselves, "Can I ever feel okay about myself?"

A brilliant achievement from New York Times best-selling author Ellen Hopkins, who has been called "the best-selling living poet in the country" by mediabistro.com,Tricks is a book that turns you on and repels you at the same time. Just like so much of life.

Release date: August 20, 2009

Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry Books

Print pages: 640

Sample

Tricks

Not Wrong for Me

No, not at all. Andrew is pretty much

perfect. Not gorgeous, not in a male

model kind of way, but he is really cute,

with crazy hair that sometimes hides

his eyes, dark chocolate eyes that hold

laughter, even when he’s deadly serious.

He’s not a hunk, but toned, and tall enough

to effortlessly tuck me under his arms,

arms that are gentle but strong from honest

ranch work, arms that make me feel

safe when they gather me in. It’s the only

time I really feel wanted, and the absolute

best part of any day is when I manage

to steal cherished time with Andrew.

No, he’s not even a little wrong for me

except maybe—maybe!—in the eyes

of God. But much, much worse than that,

he’s completely wrong for my parents.