Dear Life, You Suck

By age seventeen, Cricket Cherpin who is not only the oldest charge in a Catholic boys' orphanage but also swiftly approaching adulthood is surly, jaded, and world-weary. Having flouted the legal age of accountability for years, he has—time after time—thwarted even the merest thought of preparing for a future in which he would even remotely be considered a viable part of society. Believing that the few options available to him are solely comprised of a future as a professional boxer, drug dealer, or corpse, he finds the latter increasingly intriguing. Fortunately, Wynona Bidaban’s stepping into his world causes him to think that possibly life doesn't completely suck. Cherpin is a hard character to love. Frequently, the reader finds herself wanting to tell him to “man up” and “just deal,” and yet he worms his way into her heart. Readers who like Julie Halpern’s Get Well Soon and Have a Nice Day will find Anna Bloom’s male counterpart in this protagonist—albeit one who is situated in a world that does not allude to the Wheedonverse.

Dear Life, You Suck by Scott Blagden
Secondary
Harcourt
310pp.
2013
978-0-547-90431-3
$16.99
Realistic

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