I CAN'T BELIEVE I HAVE TO DO THIS

A 12-year-old gets a tutorial in the consequences of irresponsible behavior and the dangers of bad company in this earnestly cautionary novel. At his mother's behest, Dean keeps a journal of what turns out to be a traumatic year, beginning with a parental interview after he threatens his tattletale little sister and ending with a community service sentence for joy-riding with a drunk, high, underage driver. In between, his bike is stolen and the family dog gets run over—both consequences of his own carelessness—he is caught lying and shoplifting, and he watches his best friend Aaron and a new buddy drink beer, act stupid, and throw up. Newcomer Alford takes on a catalog of other issues too, as topical as ear-piercing and as timeless as dealing with bullies. The journal entries are only a pretext, readily abandoned; Dean's comments generally take up no more than a few lines at the head or tail of each chapter, and are mostly of the whiny variety, while the real stories emerge in the paragraphs of first-person narration. It's not entirely a tale of woe: Dean wins a student council seat, has a first date, and gains more wholesome friends, but some readers will wilt under the barrage of lessons. (Fiction. 10-12)