Junkyard Dogs was an intense and deep look at a young life being lived on the margin. A 17-year-old boy, Josh, who should have adult support in his life basically gets abandoned by those adults who should care for him and is manipulated by wolves in sheep’s clothing. Once his world takes a turn for the worse, he proceeds to make bad choices and mistakes that dig him deeper and deeper into despair. This is real stuff. The reader spends a lot of time with Josh–worrying about where his next meal comes from, where he is going to sleep, how he will stay out of the cold, and how to get money. It is all quite plausible. The middle section of the book seems like a lot of wasted time and endless spinning with no progress being made, but this all adds to the reader feeling the authenticity of Josh’s despair, hopelessness, and feeling of entrapment. It is a rough and slow read because it is so painful, but that is part of the point and the author did her job well here. The reader really wants to jump onto the page and tell Josh to ask for help from the people who really have his best interests in mind.

Although there were some mystery elements, overall this is contemporary fiction that reads more like an art film than an action read. YA has a lot of female protagonists these days so it is nice to have a male lead.

Review of a Digital Advance Reading Copy provided by the Publisher

Content Analysis:

Profanity/Language: 22 religious exclamations; 46 mild obscenities; 6 religious profanities; 10 derogatory names; 149 scatological words; 34 anatomical terms; 100 F-word derivatives.

Violence/Gore: Some flashback memories to a traumatic event involving property damage and the death of a family member; verbal abuse; teammates scuffle; verbal threats; threats at knifepoint; report of an individual being injured by a knife and going to emergency room; a body is found, brief description–cause of death believed to be murder; someone is missing and thought to be dead/murdered; child attacked by an animal and sustains severe injuries requiring many stiches, some description and mention of blood; character pushed into a confined space, hitting head and being locked in; character turns on light and realizes he is with a dead person; purposeful destruction of property, with disregard for the death of individuals on the property; character burned to death; character gets elbowed in a game and gets a bloody nose; teenage girl has a swollen eye, says the police gave it to her; report that there was head-butting and other rough fouls in a basketball game; sibling kicks other sibling in the leg; character gets a piercing and is woozy and has blood all over shirt; object dropped on someone’s face causing injury/bleeding; two characters go to fight and female steps in between them and take the punch; man hits teenage boy upside of head; man slams a teenage boy into concrete wall; confrontation with a knife, scuffle, fight, hitting with objects, running away; reports of murders and bodies being found.

Sex/Nudity: Female says she loves a male; female and male kiss, hug, cuddle; male is attracted to a female; implication that a woman is involved with a married man, no details; boys talk about “hotties”, in general terms; flirting; reference to girlfriends; adult calls a girl a slut; adult throws a box of condoms at a teenager and tells him not to get anyone pregnant; passing reference to jokes about male anatomy.

Mature Subject Matter:

Death, homelessness, abandonment by parent, truancy, hunger, poverty, crime, murder, arson, child neglect, emotional and verbal abuse, fugitive from the law.

Alcohol/Drug Use:

Cold medicine stolen and sold; adults smoke; adults drink; adult is drunk and unconscious; reference to drug dealing; adult guardian figure smokes weed and offers it to teenager; adult character is drinking something in a brown paper bag.