Sweetgirl - Travis Mulhauser
There's a very troubling situation described in Travis Mulhauser's Sweetgirl . It doesn't start from the most promising of places, it continues to progressively decline over its relatively short length and it ends badly for most of those concerned. Fortunately, the author has a wonderful direct and deadpan style that balances the tension with some black humour, but there's more to it than that. Despite taking place in the coldest of places with the meanest of characters, there's a surprising human warmth at its heart, and it makes all the difference. It helps that the main character is one you're rooting for, even if it's hard to pin down just exactly what makes 16 year old Percy tick. Her intentions at least are clearly well-meaning even if her actions lead to the an unforeseen amount of horror and destruction. She's out looking for her mother Carletta, a junkie who has fallen off the wagon again. As far as Percy can tell, her mother is likely to be fou...