This Might Hurt a Bit

The worst day of 16-year-old Kirby’s life was when his sister, Melanie, died. A year later, he’s worried about getting beaten up at school for pulling a prank that ended badly the night before—and he’s not looking forward to facing his parents about the secret journal his mother found in his room, either. In his observant and expressive first-person voice, Kirby describes his experiences with bullies, his grief after losing Melanie, and his family’s recent move from suburbia to the rural town of Upper Shuckburgh, a quiet place that sometimes “feels like the moon.” Horner’s YA debut lacks fully developed characters and emotional depth (laughs come at the expense of local people, who are typecast as crass rednecks). But humor diffuses the tension built from Kirby’s various attempts to escape his fate, and witty observations, such as Kirby’s appraisal of his mother and father (“Trying to figure out my parents is like trying to put a tuxedo on a squirrel: difficult, dangerous, and not worth the photo”) feel fresh. Ages 14–up. Agent: Daniel Lazar, Writers House. (June)