This was a good quick read for me. A bunch of kids meet up in the desert at a camp, basically for juvenile delinquents, and absolute chaos ensues.

Daniel is sweet, shy teenager who ends up thinking a lot about his recent teenage years and how he has behaved. Vera is a take no nonsense, I’m in charge kind of girl right off the bat and you can’t help but want these two to fall in love.

So what exactly happens in the desert between these two teenagers, and the rest of the group that are with them? You’ll have to read this book and find out. But I can tell you that it involves; sarcasm, trains, a lot of weed, fixed relationships, and a helluva lot of fun along the way. You won’t want to miss it.

This was a highly enjoyable read and I’ll be recommending it to all my friends.

For some reason I have a very niche interest in to the sub genre of wilderness camps for wayward teens. I think this would be a great primer into the genre for older middlegrade or young YA.

It was refreshing to see a YA book written with two of the most common features of teenager language: swearing and sarcasm! Too often I fins YA books sanitise their young people and it can make for a less authentic experience. Polito's choices mean that this is probably at the older end of the YA market but it works well for me. It was also really interesting to see Daniel, the book's protagonist, as such a cynical and sarcastic young man. It allowed for Polito to explore the insecurity that riddles young men at that age.

The plot has echoes of Holes - young boy sent to the desert where he learns plenty about himself- with a nostalgic drug twist. The cultural references make it a little bit 'too American' for international audiences but it was a minor stumbling block. The relationships Daniel builds throughout the novel should hit home with most people who are/were teenagers. And this is the book's real strength.

I would have liked the resolution to be played out a little more patiently (it could've been another 20-30 pages without dragging and offered a more satisfying end) but it was an entertaining and engaging read that should offer broad appeal.