End of the World as We Know It (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9780889953796)

ForeWord Magazine Book of the Year Awards finalist (Juvenile Fiction category), 2007

Alberta Children's/Young Adult Book of the Year Nominee, 2008

White Pine nominee, 2008

CCBC's Best Books for Kids and Teens, 2008

Manitoba Young Readers' Choice Award Nominee 2009

"I hate the world and everything in it. And that includes me."

Asked to write something for English class that expresses who he really is, 16-year-old Carson takes pleasure in blistering the page with hate for everything in his life. Stuck in a private school for kids who have repeatedly flunked out elsewhere, Carson knows he's got nowhere lower to sink to. "Flunk Out Academy" is the last resort for Carson and his classmates, in a small town where its deeply troubled students are decidedly unwelcome.

Then Carson meets someone who is even less optimistic than he. Christine struggles to get by, living in a trailer by herself, abandoned by her mother and father, so desperate that she has become almost immune to the pain and loneliness.

Confronted by her deep sadness, Carson starts to care for her and she for him. Once focused on someone other than himself, he begins to notice the world around him and realize that there is beauty as well as hopelessness, love as well as hate. Together the two teenagers struggle to work out how they are going to live in an imperfect world. There are no easy happy endings, but somehow the journey eventually makes the pain worthwhile.

Author: Lesley Choyce
ISBN-10: 0889953791
ISBN-13: 9780889953796
Publisher: Red Deer Press
Language: English
Published: 05/07/2007
Pages: 224
Format: Paperback
Weight: 0.52lbs
Size: 7.47h x 5.81w x 0.66d

Accelerated Reader:
Reading Level: 5
Point Value: 8
Interest Level: Upper Grade
Quiz #/Name: 121444 / End of the World as We Know It

Award: Manitoba Young Readers Choice Award - Nominee

About the Author

Lesley Choyce once said that a voice in his head told him: "Write about what makes you feel the most uncomfortable." The author of 65 books for children, teens, and adults and a surfer, musician, publisher, broadcaster, Lesley Choyce is always a fresh voice, challenging his readers to explore new paths, try out different attitudes.