THE TRAITOR GAME

Michael and Francis, both 15, spend their Saturdays creating the fantasy world Evgard. But Michael was “battered” at his previous school, so when he finds a note reading, “I KNOW WHERE ARCASTER IS” in this locker, he thinks Francis and friends have been laughing at him all along. In retaliation, Michael tells the school tough that Francis is gay. When the accusation turns out to be true, events spin out of control. Michael eventually salvages the friendship by learning to stand up for himself. A number of narrative tics pose problems for this debut. The characters have a pathological inability to finish a thought or sentence without interrupting themselves multiple times; every third chapter recounts a parallel story set in Evgard that really belongs in a separate book; the mystery of who left the note is no mystery at all. Strong language and dense British slang complicate things further. Despite those concerns, this could be useful for large collections, especially those in need of works about bullying, gay issues or British school life. (Fiction. YA)