Dig

 Shirley J.                       Juvenile Fiction                          Dysfunctional people, dysfunctional families

Dig by A. S. King    400 pages    

I got a kick out of the characters in this book.   So real, so fun, so flawed.    Like "Can I Help You?" who has worked out a code system to sell drugs out of the drive-thru window where she has worked for years, or Loretta who does her best to hide from her abusive father while training her pet fleas to do circus feats.  The shoveler.   He tries to help his Mom survive by taking any job he can get, shoveling snow, painting/handyman stuff so they can keep living in their "apartment" long enough for him to graduate, get a car and get out of town.   Malcolm, who's Dad is dying of cancer and after a good run together, he now is going to have to go live with his estranged grandparents in their loveless home where the only good he sees is home cooked meals.  Malcolm and his Dad had been going to Jamaica where Malcolm now has a girlfriend he does not want to give this life up.   And the Freak who has so much going on and is more surprising as the story goes.  It will make you laugh out loud at times, others, you will feel for what the characters are going through.  Good book.   I recommend it to Highschoolers on up.   I think some of the stuff might be extremely deep for Middle schoolers.