Hurt People

It's the summer of 1988 in northeastern Kansas, an area home to four prisons that has been shaken by the recent escape of a convict. But for two young brothers in Leavenworth, the only thing that matters is the pool in their apartment complex. Their mother forbids the boys to swim alone, but she's always at work trying to make ends meet after splitting with their police-officer father. With no one home to supervise, the boys decide to break the rules.

While blissfully practicing their cannonballs and dives, they meet Chris, a mysterious stranger who promises an escape from their broken-home blues. As the older brother and Chris grow closer, the wary younger brother desperately tries to keep his best friend from slipping away.

Beautifully atmospheric and psychologically suspenseful, Cote Smith's Hurt People will hold you in its grip to the very last page, reminding us that when we're not paying attention, we often hurt the ones we claim to love the most.

Binding Type: Paperback
Publisher: Farrar, Strauss & Giroux-3pl
Published: 03/01/2016
ISBN: 9780374535889
Pages: 336
Weight: 0.50lbs
Size: 7.40h x 5.00w x 1.00d

Review Citations: Publishers Weekly 12/14/2015
Kirkus Reviews 01/01/2016
Booklist 02/01/2016 pg. 19