From Publishers Weekly
Limpid prose and an imaginative use of metaphor make this problem novel stretch beyond just another entry in the genre. Underachieving, drinking, and at odds with his single parent, Peter hides a terrible secret: his best friend Mead is dead, and it is Peter's fault. Confused and depressed, Peter calls Mead's family, pretending to be the dead boy. Peter is not insensitive, however, despite his failings, as he tries to behave morally in a world that offers little guidance or encouragement. Reminiscent of Larry Bograd's Bad Apple , this novel presents a compelling first-person look at a troubled urban youth that offers no easy outs for either protagonist or reader. Cadnum's writing deftly captures Peter's alienation without losing track of his very real--and very human--confusion. Ages 12-up.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From School Library Journal
Grade 8-12-- "Impersonating the dead is easy," muses Peter, an alcoholic high school senior, as he begins to relate his nightmarish experience of accidentally killing his best friend and then dealing with his guilt by assuming Mead's identity and calling the boy's worried parents to assure them their son is okay. What Peter discovers is that impersonating the dead is "easy" only when you've tuned out your own feelings and turned off your environment. Nothing matters to Peter; he fails school tests and detaches himself from his single-parent mother; his father, who wants his son to live with him; his girlfriend; and his friend Lani. He lives his days with alcohol and his nights without sleep. Finally, he confesses the truth to Lani and her lawyer father, who gets him needed legal and psychiatric help. Still, though, Peter is deeply haunted by the voice of his slain alter ego. Through the prism of descriptive poetic images, Peter reveals the dark details of his sleepwalking life. But the portrait of him that readers carry from this intriguing novel is so confusing and fragmented that they really know very little more about what makes him tick after finishing it than before they met him. An engaging idea that is not fully realized. --Jack Forman, Mesa College Library, San Diego
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.
