It Won't Happen to Me

Newman follows her bestselling You Can Say No to a Drink or a Drug and Never Say Yes to a Stranger with this collection of nine case histories, told in the first-person, of young drug and alcohol abusers, ages nine to 15. Terry tells how he began drinking in the seventh grade and became an alcoholic before learning that his father was also an alcoholic. Kimberly states, ""I became known as `speed queen' by the kids at school.'' Courtney wound up in the alcohol rehab center, joined Alcoholics Anonymous and saw a psychiatrist daily: ``I was only drinking beer and smoking pot when I hit bottom. If only I had known.'' In case any young readers miss the point, Newman drives it home with two pages of ``You Should Know'' and ``Think About'' notes at the end of each chapter. More than 80 of Tiboni's photos are used to show moments of joy and despair in the lives of these young people. The book is carefully calculated to deliver a message that teens (and their parents) will not reject. (April)