 Lesley Choyce is 62 years old.  He lives in Lawrencetown Beach.  He has worked as a corn farmer, a newspaper boy, a lead guitarist and a well digger.  He remained single all his life and has no children  He’s written over 45 books for young adults about everything from environmental issues, organ transplants and rock bands amongest other things

 Carson- Hates the world and everyone it (that includes him most of all), tall, skinny, dark hair green eyes. 16 years old.  Christine- Has lots of issues with her family (abandoned by both her her parents), feels unloved and unwanted. Dirty blond hair always down and knotted, skinny, wears ragged and ripped clothes, has cuts up her arms. 16 years old.  Dr. Cromwell- Bald, has classes, skinny, has scars down his face and arms. A psychologist and head master of the boarding school Carson attends. 52 years old

The main character Carson has flunked out of a few public schools for being cocky and not respecting the authority in his school and is living at Farnsworth Academy, a last resort boarding school in a small town called Harbourville. Carson doesn’t really like people he hates the world, and everyone in it especially himself. Although, he doesn’t mind the school he attends because it keeps him away from the parents he feels he failed for not living up to the expectation of the “perfect son.” Then one day he meets a girl named Christine down by a river. Christine hates almost everything and everyone like Carson. She was abandoned by both her parents and lives in a run down trailer park and since she has no money to pay rent she was on the verge of being evicted. They start to become friends and then start to fall in love.

Once they both become focused on someone other than themselves they start to notice the world isn’t as dark and depressing as they thought it was when they were alone. Farnsworth Academy has to close down because they can’t afford to keep it open and Carson knows he can’t return home for fear of being separated from Christine. They decide to run away to an abandoned, little cabin out in the woods and for about a month they live out there alone and they like it. Eventually Carson is discovered and his parents want him to come live at home with Christine. Once they both become comfortable living there they stop talking like they used to and fall out of love. Then one day the return back to Harbourville just to see the town again and Christine finds her mother working as a cashier at a grocery store. Her mom wants her to come back to live with her and Christine agrees. Carson and Christine keep in touch as friends but it’s an awkward friendship, and they eventually lose touch. Then during the summer when Carson is 18 he is offered a job as a janitor at the new re opened Farnsworth academy.

Likes It wasn’t very long Easy to comprehend I liked that it was somewhat of a love story Dislikes It lacked in detail It lacked in excitement It dragged on

Trepidation - tremulous fear, alarm, or agitation; perturbation. Voracious - exceedingly eager or avid. Misanthropes - a hater of human kind. Creosote - an oily liquid having a burning taste and a penetrating odor, obtained by the distillation of coal and wood tar, used mainly as a preservative for wood and as an antiseptic. Dregs- Usually, dregs. the least valuable part of anything Subliminal- existing or operating below the threshold of consciousness; being or employing stimuli insufficiently intense to produce a discrete sensation but often being or designed to be intense enough to influence the mental processes or the behavior of the individual:

 Put others before yourself.  Beauty is in everything around you, but sometimes you have to search for it  Self loathing doesn’t get you anywhere

 This book was worth a read because it’s quick and easy to comprehend, but it was definitely lacking in events and excitement. It wasn’t very interesting in most parts, it lacked detail and dragged on in parts that weren’t necessary. I would have preferred it if the book focused more on the two main characters relationships rather than Carson’s life at his school.

 I would change the ending of the book and I would make it so Christine and Carson ended up together and I would show how their relationship progressed and how they ended up as adults together, because I would have preferred to read about that.