The author of Pay It Forward turns her attention to alcoholism in this novel about a girl descending into addiction. Thirteen-year-old Cynnie buries her emotions as she watches her mother drink herself into oblivion every day. Cynnie loves only her mentally retarded, three-year-old brother Bill. When her grandparents come to take Bill away, Cynnie discovers the anesthetic qualities of beer and gin, quickly descending into alcoholism until she kidnaps Bill and races away with him. Arrested, she’s placed on probation and forced into Alcoholics Anonymous. The program works for her, but can it help her mom? By portraying Cynnie realistically but sympathetically, Hyde offers a gritty subject without making the story gritty. Always heartfelt, often suspenseful, the work stays appropriate for its target audience. Few such regeneration books have the capacity to actually reach young people trapped in addiction; this one might. (Fiction. YA)
