Junk Boy

Bobby Lang lives with his distant, verbally abusive father, who has an alcohol dependence, in a neglected house overrun by all manner of detritus and rusting scrap. Solitary and friendless, Bobby scurries through high school alone, called “Junk” by peers and straining to remain as invisible as possible. He wants only to be left alone to make space for himself in the rotting shell of a 1967 VW bus that once belonged to his mother, but after accidentally witnessing the public humiliation of Rachel, a talented, queer artist and schoolmate whose mother violently rejects her sexual orientation, the two emotionally abandoned teens begin an uneasy friendship that forces them to reckon with their definitions of salvation and sacrifice. Writing in spare, straightforward verse, Abbott (The Summer of Owen Todd) deftly captures the characters’ hurt at feeling forgotten and misunderstood, the isolation of coming-of-age under traumatic circumstances, and the solace, in the form of the local priest, of being seen and accepted. Graceful in execution and in substance, Bobby and Rachel’s moving story is emotionally satisfying. Ages 14–up. [em]Agent: Erica Silverman, Sterling Lord Literistic. (Oct.) [/em]