Title:SmackAuthor:Melvin Burgess
Publish Date:May 1, 1999
Publisher:HarperTeen
Pages:293 pages
ISBN:0380732238
Classification:Fiction
Genre:
Age Range:Young Adult
Price:$8.99
Annotation: Gemma and Tar flee there abusive and poor home lives for living the runaway squatter life and turn to heroin as an escape.
Summary: Tar is 14 years old and runs away from his alcoholic and abusive home life. Gemma goes with him, equally as unhappy in her home life. They take up residence in an abandoned property along side two older teens who share their life and their heroin with them. Clearly heroin is a blissful escape from their lives and situation until it become more repressive then their previous lives.
Evaluation: Having lost two very important people in my life to Heroin addiction and knowing first hand the bliss then the danger, I really (I don't know about enjoyed) but appreciated the frankness and reality of this book. It was truthful about the entire experience and I know how seductive heroin can be. A very important book for those who have considered the drug themselves.
Bibliotherapeutic Usefulness: Dangers of escapism, a safe way to experiment, addresses thoughts of running away, and turning to drugs
Reason this book was chosen: A beyond taboo subject not many people can relate too who aren't inclined to consider heroin as a means of escape. They can't and won't endorse the telling of these stories or are willing to admit it is more common then they think it is. Scary and real and actually does happen. An important book for teens who find solace in drugs, think about running away, or are faced with parents that drive them to do anything to escape.
