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Sixteen-year-old Zaine Wyatt has a lot to be angry about. His mother walked out of his life when he was 12, and he was kicked out of his Aunt Sarah's place by his uncle. After living on the streets and getting badly beaten up, he is back at Aunt Sarah's, but Zaine is still angry, afraid, and uncertain that he has a permanent place to live. When his mother breaks yet another promise to take him back, he flees to an empty art studio he has taken refuge in before. But now it is just a storage shed, and he vents his rage by trashing the place and injures the new owner as he flees. Facing charges and a possible criminal record, Zaine agrees to participate in a restorative justice program to keep from being kicked out again by his aunt. Zaine works to fix the damage he has caused and helps the owner's disabled grandson Lucas get to and from school, but his attempts to stay on the right side of the law are challenged by a group of teens who want to recruit him into a gang. Can Zaine complete the restorative justice program and prove himself worthy of a home, whether with his mother or not?
184 pages, Paperback
Published September 4, 2018
11 people want to read
About the author
Karen Spafford-Fitz
8 books11 followersKaren Spafford-Fitz grew up in an old limestone farmhouse that she suspects was haunted. “My childhood home near Kingston, Ontario expressed itself through an alarming range of squeaks, creaks, moans, groans, bumps and thumps—especially on dark, stormy nights. It was perfect for fuelling the imagination of a young writer-to-be!”
Karen’s early training as a writer involved reading thousands of books. “As a child, I had mounds of books on my nightstand that frequently avalanched onto the floor. These mounds included the Anne of Green Gables stories, Little House on the Prairie, Nancy Drew, The Hardy Boys, and Trixie Belden. I was horse-crazy too, so Black Beauty, The Black Stallion, and my dad’s old Lone Ranger books were also favorites. At one point, I went through a horror-story phase where I read the creepiest books I could find—even though they scared me to death.”
Karen later went to Queen’s University, where she received degrees in English and in Education. For the next eight years, she taught elementary and junior high students in Toronto and in Edmonton. Although Karen enjoyed teaching, she wanted a home-based career after her daughters were born, and so she turned to freelance writing. One of her projects involved writing educational software for students, which helped Karen discover her love of writing for young people. She soon began creating her own stories for children and teenagers, and Dog Walker, Karen’s first book, was released in March 2006.
When Karen is not writing, she is often reading, gardening, running, skiing or enjoying Edmonton’s river valley with her husband, her two daughters and her two enormous dogs. Karen also enjoys visiting schools and libraries in the Edmonton area where she speaks to students about the inspiration for her stories, the creative process, and the writing life.
Karen’s early training as a writer involved reading thousands of books. “As a child, I had mounds of books on my nightstand that frequently avalanched onto the floor. These mounds included the Anne of Green Gables stories, Little House on the Prairie, Nancy Drew, The Hardy Boys, and Trixie Belden. I was horse-crazy too, so Black Beauty, The Black Stallion, and my dad’s old Lone Ranger books were also favorites. At one point, I went through a horror-story phase where I read the creepiest books I could find—even though they scared me to death.”
Karen later went to Queen’s University, where she received degrees in English and in Education. For the next eight years, she taught elementary and junior high students in Toronto and in Edmonton. Although Karen enjoyed teaching, she wanted a home-based career after her daughters were born, and so she turned to freelance writing. One of her projects involved writing educational software for students, which helped Karen discover her love of writing for young people. She soon began creating her own stories for children and teenagers, and Dog Walker, Karen’s first book, was released in March 2006.
When Karen is not writing, she is often reading, gardening, running, skiing or enjoying Edmonton’s river valley with her husband, her two daughters and her two enormous dogs. Karen also enjoys visiting schools and libraries in the Edmonton area where she speaks to students about the inspiration for her stories, the creative process, and the writing life.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
November 16, 2019
Sniff, sniff. It was wonderful to see Zaine stop his downward spiral and turn things around. The information on restorative justice was fascinating. A quick read.
January 11, 2022
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I got an ARC of this book.
I adored this book. It covered some really complex emotions and situations. Zaine is dealing with being homeless, being abandoned, and more pretty much alone. He has anger problems, but seriously who wouldn’t. A lot of mental health issues show up as anger in men, especially younger men. So his anger was probably feelings of loss and abandonment. Such complex emotions for such a short book. It made the book so easy to relate to.
Zaine made a bad decision when he was dealing with his anger and it had big repercussions. This book is really big on the idea that actions have consequences. This is a huge thing I need my kids at the jail to understand. A lot of them blame the cops for arresting them and can’t seem to wrap their heads around that their behavior is the issue. Some of the kids really need more support like Zaine did, some are more like the boys in the gang.
This book showed that sometimes second chances can sound awful, but new things can turn out well. Zaine works hard in school and he learns some really interesting things in the course of his restorative justice program. It really allowed Zaine to grow as a person and see the real consequences of his actions for others. His actions hurt other people and he didn’t seem to understand at first that it didn’t matter that he didn’t intend to hurt anyone, he did. He really grows up in this book and I am here for it.
Highly recommend.
I got an ARC of this book.
I adored this book. It covered some really complex emotions and situations. Zaine is dealing with being homeless, being abandoned, and more pretty much alone. He has anger problems, but seriously who wouldn’t. A lot of mental health issues show up as anger in men, especially younger men. So his anger was probably feelings of loss and abandonment. Such complex emotions for such a short book. It made the book so easy to relate to.
Zaine made a bad decision when he was dealing with his anger and it had big repercussions. This book is really big on the idea that actions have consequences. This is a huge thing I need my kids at the jail to understand. A lot of them blame the cops for arresting them and can’t seem to wrap their heads around that their behavior is the issue. Some of the kids really need more support like Zaine did, some are more like the boys in the gang.
This book showed that sometimes second chances can sound awful, but new things can turn out well. Zaine works hard in school and he learns some really interesting things in the course of his restorative justice program. It really allowed Zaine to grow as a person and see the real consequences of his actions for others. His actions hurt other people and he didn’t seem to understand at first that it didn’t matter that he didn’t intend to hurt anyone, he did. He really grows up in this book and I am here for it.
Highly recommend.
January 7, 2019
This story was a nice, quick read. I found myself thinking about it in between reading sessions, which always means a book is resonating with me.
I like Zaine, the protagonist, so much. He has had a hard life but that hasn't necessarily made him hardened -- he is loving and tender towards his two cousins and wants to do good. His mother is sufficiently infuriating, and none of the characters were stereotypes. I wish Aunt Sarah had been built out a bit more, but given the length of the book and it's focus on a few specific events I can see why she isn't as well developed as some others.
I also loved Geezer and Lucas. Their situation was also heartbreaking, and I loved how Geezer warms up to Zaine. His grumpiness towards Zaine is amusing and understandable, and Zaine's self-reflections about how Geezer views/would have viewed him (i.e. as a punk) are lovely.
In terms of the restorative justice piece, I thought it was very authentic to real life. I have never explored how it would be used in a school setting, but I think this book beautifully demonstrates the opportunities for healing this process offers, to both perpetrator and victim. I would highly recommend this book to anyone, and if I were still teaching junior high, I would use it as a read-aloud.
I like Zaine, the protagonist, so much. He has had a hard life but that hasn't necessarily made him hardened -- he is loving and tender towards his two cousins and wants to do good. His mother is sufficiently infuriating, and none of the characters were stereotypes. I wish Aunt Sarah had been built out a bit more, but given the length of the book and it's focus on a few specific events I can see why she isn't as well developed as some others.
I also loved Geezer and Lucas. Their situation was also heartbreaking, and I loved how Geezer warms up to Zaine. His grumpiness towards Zaine is amusing and understandable, and Zaine's self-reflections about how Geezer views/would have viewed him (i.e. as a punk) are lovely.
In terms of the restorative justice piece, I thought it was very authentic to real life. I have never explored how it would be used in a school setting, but I think this book beautifully demonstrates the opportunities for healing this process offers, to both perpetrator and victim. I would highly recommend this book to anyone, and if I were still teaching junior high, I would use it as a read-aloud.
December 31, 2019
Found this book wandering around the library waiting for daughter to find her stack of books. I figured it is short enough I can squeeze it in and reach my 2019 reading goal.
Zaine is an angry kid who has been given a rough circumstance in life. His mother is flightly and selfish and up and leaves him with his aunt to raise him. Her husband dislikes him from day one and has his own set of issues. When he and Zaine reaches the boiling point he is put on the streets to fend for himself. That doesn't go well and he ends up back at his aunt's house which isnt very welcoming.
After another missed promise by his mother his anger explodes which causes him to get into trouble with the law. He is in an alternative school and now doing an alternative sentence to keep from having serious criminal charges on his record.
Only thing is Zaine is not all bad especially when he is around his young cousins and we see his humor and compassion. As he works out his punishment we see a new side of Zaine take over.
As the book ends he is still troubled but is on the correct path in life.
Zaine is an angry kid who has been given a rough circumstance in life. His mother is flightly and selfish and up and leaves him with his aunt to raise him. Her husband dislikes him from day one and has his own set of issues. When he and Zaine reaches the boiling point he is put on the streets to fend for himself. That doesn't go well and he ends up back at his aunt's house which isnt very welcoming.
After another missed promise by his mother his anger explodes which causes him to get into trouble with the law. He is in an alternative school and now doing an alternative sentence to keep from having serious criminal charges on his record.
Only thing is Zaine is not all bad especially when he is around his young cousins and we see his humor and compassion. As he works out his punishment we see a new side of Zaine take over.
As the book ends he is still troubled but is on the correct path in life.
April 26, 2019
This was a very enjoyable read and did not go in the "standard" direction I thought it would go.
Zaine is in trouble after doing something stupid, but this character was pretty well fleshed out, considering how short this book is. The author did a good job of showing us his "bad" side, but also his "better" side. This comes through especially when he spends time with his 3 year old cousins.
Throughout the story, I actually felt for him. A useless mother who puts herself first each and every time and Zaine who feels unwanted and rejected.
Thankfully, this story did not go in the general direction of "everyone hates me so I will be bad". I like that the author chose to give Zaine a few people in his life who actually want him to succeed.
The scenes with Lucas were too short, I would have liked more of those, but overall, the story is good, the characters are fairly well fleshed out and I found myself cheering for Zaine.
Zaine is in trouble after doing something stupid, but this character was pretty well fleshed out, considering how short this book is. The author did a good job of showing us his "bad" side, but also his "better" side. This comes through especially when he spends time with his 3 year old cousins.
Throughout the story, I actually felt for him. A useless mother who puts herself first each and every time and Zaine who feels unwanted and rejected.
Thankfully, this story did not go in the general direction of "everyone hates me so I will be bad". I like that the author chose to give Zaine a few people in his life who actually want him to succeed.
The scenes with Lucas were too short, I would have liked more of those, but overall, the story is good, the characters are fairly well fleshed out and I found myself cheering for Zaine.
September 29, 2018
Written in the first person voice of 16 yr old Zaine, who finds himself in trouble with the law, this story is a fictitious example of how a restorative justice program can make a difference in a young person life and give them hope after making a bad choice. At a grade 4 reading level it is an easy read for most readers, but written for teens and older readers.
October 15, 2018
I love Karen's books because she knows how to layer a character. My heart went out to Zaine from the first page and I wanted him to do well. Zaine is troubled, but the author makes us understand why but he also has to own up for his mistakes, which is a good thing. The idea of restorative justice in this story really worked. Great read.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews