Frances O'Roark Dowell

A novel in verse about understanding and overcoming a rage deep inside of you. One that causes you to hurt people and Understanding why you have this rage. Haz’s story is told through text messages, free verse emails to his therapist and transcripts of interviews between him, his mom and his Granny. The author definitely gets across Haz’s confusion and anger stemming from his dad’s injury and own anger. This read at a higher level than MS.

I wish I had these books back when I was an elementary teacher. They are great!

While this book brought up serious and important topics, the way it was told made it hard to understand. I was bored, couldn't connect to any of the characters despite wanting to, and was lost half the time. The structure in this is nonsensical. It's slow to start and just--ends. There's no real character arc in a book that seems built to have one. Somehow, it was a quick read.