Chad Lutzke

The main storyline is about a teenaged boy moving to a new town and falling in with the wrong friends who manipulate him into doing things that are just not good. And while he constantly battles an inner struggle, knowing that what they do is not OK, he is not able to stay away, because that would also mean losing the only friends he's got now - and his first love. Thus, the stage is set for a horrible drama to unfold, leading to a finale where the boy has to make a severe choice which will define who he is and who he will become.

One detail I loved in this book were the titles of the chapters, announcing the chapter plays xx numbers of days ago, thus building a great amount of suspense and curiosity towards the oncoming 'now'. While it is mostly typical for a story to build tension towards a finale at the end, here I read a constant reminder that I was nearing some unavoidable outcome - and with each chapter I realized it would be very bad.

'Wormwood' is the result of a collaboration of two equally talented authors, bringing together the best of two worlds in a most formidable book.

Sometimes you start reading a book and after only a couple of pages you just know 'this is it'. Of course, sometimes that feeling betrays you and you end up being disappointed. But not with this book! 'Of Foster Homes and Flies' had everything I could wish for - maybe except for a couple more pages, as the only disappointment was that it ended too soon.

I instantly fell for Denny and my heart broke when I read about his short life that was already filled with enough troubles to fill a lifetime. From a distance, what Denny does seems like an act of childish cruelty - but how can you not understand why he had to hide his mother's death and why the spelling bee was so important to him? There is such an innocent naivety about his actions that you can only feel for and with him and hope that he will get away with it. I was just so glad about the ending, he totally deserved it. Best coming-of-age tale I've read in a very long time, if ever. Highest recommendation!