• Is it age appropriate?

  About our ratings

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  Not age appropriate for kids under 13, age appropriate for kids over 15; suggested age 14.

• Is it any good?

  4.0

• Common Sense says

  Grim account of a runaway teen is intense and disturbing.

Why We Rated This for Ages 14–15

What to watch out for

• Messages:

  Jamie describes his theft methods in detail. He and a friend pretend to collect money for a kidnapping victim but keep it for themselves. Jamie shoplifts and steals a boy's backpack. Jamie's father tells his mother she has "sausage thighs" and posts her weight on the refrigerator. Jamie's squad leader bullies him and calls him the "dumbest of the dozen." The track coach tells Jamie he has a "vagina" when he stops to rest and screams "Nothing but vadge!" at him. On the positive side, people help Jamie out, giving him rides and money. 

• Violence:

  A boy Jamie knows sticks mechanical pencils in cats' anuses. With little remorse, Jamie hits joggers over the head to knock them out so he can steal their iPods. Jamie says he sometimes feels like putting his head through a window so "the jagged pieces tear my neck apart." Jamie wakes up with another boy's hand down his pants "like he was intending to finger me in my sleep" (the boy thought he was a girl). An older man tries to entice boys into his room; he gives one boy wine and when the boy falls asleep, stands over him and masturbates. Jamie gets jumped in a bus station restroom; they break a forty of Budweiser over his head and steal all his money and gear. An older woman slaps Jamie across the face and he punches her in the chest.
• Sex:

  Jamie describes getting a "hand job" from a prostitute on a couple different occasions. Jamie hears that taking black market Viagra "makes sex way more intense, like you feel like you grow fangs." A man who gives Jamie a ride gets a hotel room and gives him oral sex. Afterward Jamie is "mad disgusted" and wants to smash the man in the head with his radio. He later calls the experience the "d--k-sucking saga." One of the homeless boys charges other boys a quarter to see naked pictures of his mother. Jamie gets stoned and has safe sex with a fellow teenager (described in some detail).
• Language:

  Jamie swears casually and constantly. The language include "s--t," "f--k," "motherf-ker," "piss," "t-tties," and "faggot-ass."  He calls women "skeezers;" his friend calls a junior-high girl named "Easy Elise" a "ho" and "skanky-ass juice box." Jamie says one of the military school cadets is associated with a group that screams, "Out with the n--gers." Jamie calls God a "f--king d--k" for letting his brother get cancer and dismisses a woman as a "f--king skanky bitch."
• Consumerism:

  Jamie steals iPods and abuses Actifed. There are several mentions of name brands, including drugs, alcohol, soda, electronics, shoes, and video games.
• Drinking, drugs, & smoking:

  Jamie is a drug user. He smokes pot and wonders if that messed up his hormones. He describes the after-effects of using meth. He gets drunk, abuses Actifed, and smokes clove cigarettes.

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