YOUNG MAN WITH CAMERA, by Emil Sher

The story: "T---" has been bullied all his life. His enemies are always waiting, ready to pounce, and ready to do their worst not just to T---, but to anyone else he cares about. When the 7th grader befriends a homeless woman, Ryan and his gang come in for the kill, and the terrifying results just get worse and worse. Is there anyone--ANYONE--he can turn to for help?

June Cleaver's ratings: Language PG; Violence PG-13; Sexual content G; Nudity G; substance abuse PG; magic & the occult G; GLBT content G; adult themes (bullying, psychological torture) R; overall rating PG-13.

Liz's comments: It's hard to describe this book in any way beside "gut-wrenching". Sher introduces the reader to a damaged boy with enormous self control, whose experiences at the hands of truly sociopathic bullies are horrifying and yet who just keeps his head down, trying to figure out his way down a path filled with nothing but dead ends. My only complaint is that the adults, particularly T---'s parents, are so clueless as to be cardboard cutouts, and the unadulterated awfulness that is 12-year-old Ryan is so uniformly terrible that it strains credulity--the kid isn't old enough to be so thoroughly evil. However, Sher ratchets up the tension throughout--clear up to an unexpected twist at the end, and the reader is left exhausted, but still hoping that somehow, T--- will figure out a way to triumph quietly over his adversaries.