Crash

by Lesley Choyce

Just when sixteen-year-old Cameron thinks he's going to straighten out his troubled life, his parents break up and he ends up living on the street with his dog, Ozzie. He meets a girl named Mackenzie, who has been sleeping in a pup tent in the park. With her help, he tries to survive on the street and continue with school, despite the new challenges in his life.
Finding a safe place for them to crash at night is difficult, and panhandling for money isn't as easy as it looks. Cameron learns that Mackenzie has her own emotional baggage to deal with, and life for a kid with a dog and no home gets even more challenging. After Mackenzie gets into some real trouble, Cameron realizes he needs to come up with a realistic solution if they are going to survive the turbulence.

Genres: Young Adult, Teen

136 pages, Library Binding

First published October 1, 2013

About the author

Lesley Choyce is a novelist and poet living at Lawrencetown Beach, Nova Scotia. He is the author of more than 80 books for adults, teens and children. He teaches in the English Department and Transition Year Program at Dalhousie University. He is a year-round surfer and founding member of the 1990s spoken word rock band, The SurfPoets. Choyce also runs Pottersfield Press, a small literary publishing house and hosted the national TV show, Off The Page, for many years. His books have been translated into Spanish, French, German and Danish and he has been awarded the Dartmouth Book Award and the Ann Connor Brimer Award.

Lesley Choyce was born in New Jersey in 1951 and moved to Canada in 1978 and became a citizen.

His YA novels concern things like skateboarding, surfing, racism, environmental issues, organ transplants, and rock bands.

Reviews

[Nadia Uhlenhaker · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is very skin and bones writing, and I just didn't like it. The book felt kind of fake in parts. It's a good thing it's short.

[Deep Brahmbhatt · Rating 2 out of 5]

To be as honest as I can be, I did not like “Crash” a whole lot. The story was just not good. The book is basically about a boy, Cameron, who tries to straighten out his troubled life, and then his parents break up, leading to him being homeless. He has to survive this situation with the help of his dog and his new homeless friend, Mackenzie. I feel that the story was not good because the writing was, as I like to call it, boneless. The writing just felt fake at some parts and also felt like it had no meaning. The book was also to short for its own good. It had to sacrifice character development for a good pace, which it did have, and that is what made the book short. Some people could make the argument that this book is meant for younger people, but there is a good deal of profanity in this book, so it is not for kids. I just couldn’t connect with the characters. This may be because I have never dealt with the situation the characters were in, which were that they were homeless, but I still think that if I could relate, the characters would seem underdeveloped. I would make the book longer if I could, and add more character development. There are definitely some things this book does well. There are many details in the book and there is good imagery. I also like the overall lesson; homelessness and economic disadvantage are very real things that affect a lot of people worldwide, irrespective of any characteristic they may possess. If someone were to ask me if “Crash” is any good, I would say it is a really quick read that is nothing spectacular, but nothing bad either. This book is for young adults and up, and really is a good book to teach a lesson about the real world and how the issues that plague it are really real.

[Tania · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cameron's life is turned upside down the day his father says he's leaving. Soon he learns his father has abandoned his family after months of planning and his mother was having an affair with a guy that isn't at all happy about Cameron or his dog Ozzy. Cameron's solution is simply to stay put - his mother moves in with her new boyfriend, his father moves out west, and he stays in their rented home. Of course, with no parents and no income, that will only last so long, and ultimately Cameron finds himself on the street. He will have to learn quickly what it means to fend for himself, and who he can really trust.

I found the premise of the book completely believable, sad as that is, but I thought much of what happened was glossed over in favor of keeping the story short. I think there was unexplored potential in both the story and the characters; as it was, the characters remained rather shallow and events told in a pretty straight-forward manner without tension or nuances. Still, it's an honest portrayal of a teen who feels lost with nowhere to go, and a good lesson that life on your own is much harder (and more dangerous) than it looks.

[Mason · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Busted for stealing a car, almost caught making a drug delivery for a dealer, and maybe a few more bad moves on my part” (Choyce, p.1). Cameron, the protagonist, is kicked out of his house and finds himself homeless living with his dog. He stumbles across another homeless girl, Makenzie, and together they tried to find a way out, and put their lives back together. There are a lot of ups and downs, and their friendship falls apart many times throughout the plot. They get separated for a long period eventually being reunited. The dog gets taken away, and has a high price to get back. Many long nights sleeping under a coffee shop, skipping school to beg for spare change, and sacrificing many things eventually pay off. The point of the story that the author tries to make is that all bad things come to an end, and that all good people eventually get a second chance to make things right. Overall I enjoyed this book. It was only 130 pages; it was short and easy to read. I would rate it a 9/10, and I would recommend this book to everybody that likes reading.

[Victoria Bickford · Rating 4 out of 5]

I gave this book four stars because it involved a dog so it cant be bad. I enjoyed this because it told the story of what many kids actually go through. The book was easy to follow which was nice. The one thing I didn't really understand is why his mom just gave up on a sixteen year old boy, he just became homeless and just let him seemed odd. Overall I would recommend this to someone who wants a quick read.

[Debbie Reads · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well I also read this for nostalgia purposes, i remember I absolutely loved this book back in junior high, this was a nostalgic read and I can't imagine what it must have been like for Mac and Cam, though i do wonder how MacKenzie got that money for Ozzie and who the guy was that beat her but I guess the short book can't have too many details. I just hope that they finally do have a home and everything will be okay for them

[Kayleigh Mccormac · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a really fast read. IT was also really interesting. When I started it I was just planning on reading a little bit to get a taste for it, but I couldn't stop. Every time I thought I was going to pause I read a little bit more and had to keep going. The subject matter is a little mature; it does allude to prostitution and mentions sex.

[Jose Granados · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is a good short story to read. It has a pretty good story line and the book progresses at a good pace. The author did a good job at giving all the characters a good personality and also did a good job at detailing the story. The book has some parts that make you lose interest but the author makes up for it by putting an exciting moment right after that in the book. In my opinion this book is a good read and it is worth the time it takes to read witch isn't very long. I would recommend this book to somebody else because i enjoyed reading it.

[Chelsea Nerdin · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book didn't have any backbone. There was no fluff to it, Lesley said what needed to be in the book and nothing more. I do not enjoy writing like that, but there were aspects of the book that made me really enjoy it. However, there is a feel that there will be some romance, but there is none.

[Wendy · Rating 4 out of 5]

In "Crash" Lesley Choyce explores the struggle of a sixteen year old whose family falls apart leaving him destitute on the streets in winter with his dog Ozzie, panhandling to survive. Cameron who liked living on the edge senses the destructiveness of his path, making a New Year's resolution to change only to discover his father leaving and his mother shacking up with another man. Shattered he searches for an answer to his troubles and finds new purpose by helping Mackenzie, a homeless girl living in a pup tent in the park. Together these two broken teens struggle to unearth some semblance of stability in their tattered lives.

The novella takes the reader on a journey of self-discovery as Cameron learns to live on the streets with Mackenzie begging for money for food and shelter. A strong-willed teen with an indomitable spirit Cameron finds solace in his friendship with Mackenzie who has her own load of emotional baggage. He perseveres staying in school only to face the derision of his classmates but discovering several others in the same dilemma. This is a story of courage in the face of hopelessness, and despair, at the injustice of society who ignores or scorns the plight of these teens. It's a story of the selfish irresponsibility of parents and predators who prey on the helplessness of many teens.

Although short in length the novel is emotionally-charged and intense, sharp and honest in its perspective with only a light of hope and promise at the end. It's well-worth reading.

[Alonso · Rating 5 out of 5]

Have you ever wonder how the authors got his story from? My thought was authors lived the story, they wrote the story, they saw someone who was suffering and wrote it because they thought the story, but the pints that each author has is that every time they start writing they know what to write, and how to express their selves.

"Crash" its a short name for a short book, but this books speak a lot because, in the book 15 year kid named Cameron, his Mom cheats on his Dad and leaves, the Mom wants to move with his new boyfriend, Cameron refuses and stays in the house, but who has to pay the bills, and leaves the house to live in the streets.

I love this book because, I can relate to it, or people who i know that are having trouble with family, school, or with gangs, but this kind of books keep me attached with the book, or living in the bbok.

[Anne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cameron (who I thought was a girl for the first few chapters) is a boy with problems. His parents are splitting up. His dad has no job. His mom is moving in with her jerk of a boyfriend. He has past and current drug issues. Then he befriends a homeless girl in the park, defies his parents, and things just don’t seem to get any better. Lots of intense situations, but it does have a hopeful ending.
Some sexual situations, alcohol, drugs, language.

[Dana · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a surprisingly short story--I would classify it as a novella.

I like this story because it reminded me to open my eyes and soften my heart. I think most of us forget that there are personal stories behind homelessness, addiction, prostitution, and crime. We lump all of these people together as "unsavoury," forgetting that we are where we are in life due to lucky circumstance.

[Grace Foster · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cameron is a boy with problems. His parents are splitting up. His dad has no job. His mom is moving in with her mean boyfriend. Cameron has past and current drug issues. Then his best friends a homeless girl in the park, defies his parents, and things just don’t seem to get any better. Lots of crazy situations, but it does have a hopeful ending.

[Emily Hong · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was a quick read, and the language was easy to understand. The plot was interesting but everything seemed rushed. The author would move from one problem to the next very quickly which made the book kind of confusing. I would reccomend it because it was interesting to see how people live when they don't have a home and they has to beg for everything they need.

[Maddy Penrose · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book Crash was a good book about two kids who came from broken homes and how they try live on the streets. It is a quick and easy read that captures the readers attention. I would have liked for the story to been a bit longer.

[Leah · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was ok and the writing was good, but I guess it just wasn't my kind of book.

[Lisa McManus · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another great read of Lesley Choyce's. A great read for any teen who's life comes to a crashing halt in the space of a day. Loved it!