The day I turned 16 old, I had no idea that in four months years nearly everyone I cared about would be dead. So begins Allen Mockery's captivating story of teenage life in America in the new millennium, as he and his friends try to shepherd one another through a minefield of violence, drugs, and parental abandonment, and hang on to what is decent and good within themselves.Allen's darkly comic voice presents a parade of memorable characters: his best friend Peggy, whose 94th boyfriend's motives may be no more pure than those of the previous 93; Siren Delaney, who keeps her secret identity stashed in her locker; his twin sister Echo who can multiply 20-digit numbers in her head lint can't seem to bring herself to talk to anyone, and countless other friends and enemies, each more vivid and poignant, than the last. In Adam Cadre's skillful hands, their story careens to its gripping ending, but along the way, thc pain of adolescent turmoil in a society gone awry is unveiled in this powerful and disturbing coming-of-age novel.