Foolproof

by Diane Tullson

Seventeen-year-old Daniel's new girlfriend says she loves him, that she'd do anything for him. She makes Daniel feel like anything is possible. So he ignores her lies. It's not like Cyn is a bad person. Then Daniel finds out that Cyn has been using him to move drugs across the border.

Foolproof is a tough book about the consequences of gang life that asks readers to consider the line between taking risks and taking lives. Daniel crosses that line and learns a hard lesson--that no one ever thinks they are the bad guy.

Genres: Realistic Fiction

120 pages, Paperback

First published October 6, 2015

About the author

Diane Tullson is a professional writer. She has published several books for young adults and written for magazines such as Canadian Living and Westworld. She has an MFA in Creative Writing, BA in English Literature, and has studied journalism and editing. Diane Tullson lives with her family near Vancouver, BC.

Reviews

[Tami DiFulvio · Rating 4 out of 5]

Foolproof is a book about a boy, Daniel who falls for this girl named Cynthia in his school. She likes him back but at the same time she is using him as a gateway to get drugs and weapons back and forth across the border. Her ex boyfriend is the one who got her into all of this. Once Daniel finds out what Cyn has been doing this whole time he gets mad and things don't go as planned. I liked this book because it sort of had you thinking about the plot. because as Cyn lies to Daniel it makes you believe it and has you questioning the plot just as if you were in Daniels shoes.

[Jamie]

Hi-Lo Book:

Written with simple sentence structure and an easy-to-follow plot, this hi-lo book portrays the story of a teenage boy and his first girlfriend. In Bordertown USA, a quiet boy captures the interest of a teenage girl. As their relationship develops, he finds himself cutting class and sneaking out of his home to spend more and more time with her. Eventually he learns she has some dark secrets and a fate that may be beyond his control. With themes of urban survival and friendship, this coming of age novel would appeal to many 13-17 year old youngsters.
Reading level grade 4
Interest level ages 13-17

[Adrianna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Foolproof by Diane Tullson

What got me hooked to this book is how suspicious but romantic the beginning is considering I love mystery and romance. In addition to that it was a short read which I love because I can focus more on what I’m reading. In this book Daniel falls in love with a girl named Cyn who lies to him all the time. He avoids all of these lies because Cyn makes him feel like the luckiest guy in the world until he finds out she’s dealing drugs and she tricked him into doing it for her once when she couldn’t. When he found out, he went super fast with Cyns car and got it taken away so then the drug dealer (Cyns ex boyfriend) pulled up to their school dance and shot Cyn and tried shooting Daniel, but missed. In the end Cyn survived and they broke up. The author didn’t rlly use figurative language in this book, probably to make it more serious, but he used symbols and motifs. An example of one of them is a malabar. It’s a chocolate “in the back” that signed dealing the drugs. It’s mentioned multiple times throughout the book like on page 40, “ ‘Because I really want a malabar.’ “ The author told this story in 1st person by Daniel and I know this because he was telling the whole story. The conflict in this book is both external and internal because the main character faces problems with people but also with himself because he always chose to believe Cyn even though it was obvious she was lying most of the time. I think people that would enjoy this book are people who like short reads but also like romance and mystery because this book is exactly that and I loved it and I love all those things. I haven’t read any other books by this author but I read other books similar to this that are short stories and by similar authors and I love them because their full of description and cool things yet short and easy to read.

[Kyle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome book it's sad at the end tho

[Hannah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quick read. Had lots of twists and turns felt a bit unfinished

[Alex · Rating 3 out of 5]

How could Daniel be that naive? Didn’t expect that ending, though!

[Anne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Daniel is in high school, works at a fast food restaurant, and lives with his mom, his older sister and her young daughter. One day a cute girl from school comes into the burger place and gives Daniel a ride home after closing. They start dating and everything seems to good to be true. And when that is the case, it usually is too good to be true.

A serviceable hi-lo book from Orca Soundings.

[Joyce · Rating 2 out of 5]

Boy has crush on girl who lies to him, find out more & more about her shady side as novel progresses. Seems kind of one-dimensional, but really, how much development can happen in an Orca hi-lo read. Entertaining enough, not going to buy it for the library though.

[Aliyat · Rating 1 out of 5]

the plot was a bit lost... didn't like it