In the summer after graduation, Autumn and Finny reconnect and are finally ready to be more than friends. Growing up, Autumn and Finny were like peas in a pod despite their differences: Autumn is “quirky and odd,” while Finny is “sweet and shy and everyone like him.” But in eighth grade, Autumn and Finny stop being friends due to an unexpected kiss. They drift apart and find new friends, but their friendship keeps asserting itself at parties, shared holiday gatherings and random encounters. The finely drawn characters capture readers’ attention in this debut.Īutumn and Phineas, nicknamed Finny, were born a week apart their mothers are still best friends. This haunting, gruesome story will put everyday teenage problems in perspective. He is so emotionally damaged by the event that he appears headed toward a life of solitude and eccentricity. First-person narration adds greatly to the reader’s understanding of the slew of emotions that this teen experiences. The rest of the tale is one of fear, paranoia, guilt and the life-changing effects of keeping such a horrible secret. The boys see his body broken and bisected.

The guard falls and is dragged by the moving train. To save his new friend, the narrator hits the guard with his skateboard. As they near the train yard, a security guard spots them and viciously attacks. He dares to go there one night and meets a street teen, Scratch, who talks him into hopping a train. Paranoid Park is used by tough skateboarders who intrigue the speaker. The unnamed narrator is 16, preppy and a keen skateboarder ignored by his troubled family. This deeply disturbing cautionary tale shows how a teenager’s bad decision leads to a never-ending nightmare.

Paranoid park