Dreamland (YA Edition): The True Tale of America's Opiate Epidemic

As an adult book, Sam Quinones's Dreamland took the world by storm, winning the NBCC Award for General Nonfiction and hitting at least a dozen Best Book of the Year lists. Now, adapted for the first time for a young adult audience, this compelling reporting explains the roots of the current opiate crisis.

In 1929, in the blue-collar city of Portsmouth, Ohio, a company built a swimming pool the size of a football field; named Dreamland, it became the vital center of the community. Now, addiction has devastated Portsmouth, as it has hundreds of small rural towns and suburbs across America. How that happened is the riveting story of Dreamland. Quinones explains how the rise of the prescription drug OxyContin, a miraculous and extremely addictive painkiller pushed by pharmaceutical companies, paralleled the massive influx of black tar heroin--cheap, potent, and originating from one small county on Mexico's west coast, independent of any drug cartel.

Introducing a memorable cast of characters--pharmaceutical pioneers, young Mexican entrepreneurs, narcotics investigators, survivors, teens, and parents--Dreamland is a revelatory account of the massive threat facing America and its heartland.

Binding Type: Hardcover
Publisher: Bloomsbury YA
Published: 07/16/2019
ISBN: 9781547601318
Pages: 224
Weight: 0.95lbs
Size: 9.10h x 6.00w x 1.10d

Review Citations: Kirkus Reviews 05/15/2019
Booklist 06/01/2019 pg. 61
Shelf Awareness 07/26/2019
Voice of Youth Advocates 04/01/2020 - Recommended - Better Than Most