High and Dry - Hardcover

Skilton, Sarah

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1419709291 ISBN 13: 9781419709296

Publisher: Harry N. Abrams, 2014

Synopsis

Framed for a stranger’s near-fatal overdose at a party, blackmailed into finding a mysterious flash drive everyone in school seems anxious to suppress, and pressured by his shady best friend to throw an upcoming match, high school soccer player Charlie Dixon is juggling more than his share of drama. Add in a broken heart and the drinking he’s been doing to soothe it, and he’s near the breaking point. In this fast-paced, layered mystery, Charlie spends a frantic week trying to clear his name, win back the girl of his dreams, and escape a past friendship that may be responsible for all his current problems. This book captures the tone and style of the best crime fiction while also telling a high-stakes story of peer pressure gone tragically awry.

Praise for High and Dry
"A dark, well-constructed mystery with a strong voice."
--Kirkus Reviews

"Skilton’s latest covers a tense and complicated week during which Charlie must unravel relationships, desires, lies, and truths in order to clear his name, regain his sense of self, and set his world right again."
--Booklist

"School drama, romance, and mystery make a heady mash-up and an involving quick pick."
--The Bulletin of The Center for Children’s Books

"With a strong subtext about the dangers of test-driven curriculua, this novel will find an audience in most high schools."
--School Library Journal

About this title

About the Author:

Sarah Skilton is the author of Bruised, which received a starred review from Publishers Weekly, and which Horn Book called “nuanced and honest.” She lives with her husband and their son in Los Angeles.

From School Library Journal:

Gr 9 Up—Charlie Dixon, a last semester senior, floats through his life not caring about anything since he broke up with his girlfriend, Ellie. He has a drinking problem thanks to his grandfather, and spends much of his day slightly drunk. Unlike his class and teammates, he does not have to wonder where he will go to college; he knows he will be at the local college because his father works there and that his undergraduate years are already paid for. His lethargy, and an old grudge, makes him a perfect patsy. When he shows up uninvited—and drunk—to a choir party to confront Ellie about why she broke up with him, an ex-girlfriend drives him home. His keys are taken and when a camera catches his car dropping someone off at the hospital, he is set up for almost fatally drugging a girl with LSD. Thanks to his ex, he has an alibi, and she gets him involved in the search for a flash drive that contains her college essays. When he gets numerous messages from others willing to pay for the object, he realizes that there's more on the drive than essays. As Charlie gets knee-deep in shady dealings, he must start taking responsibility for his own actions. With a strong subtext about the dangers of test-driven curriculua, this novel will find an audience in most high schools.—Suanne B. Roush, formerly at Osceola High School, Seminole, FL

About this edition

• Publisher: Harry N. Abrams
• Publication date: 2014
• ISBN 10: 1419709291
• ISBN 13: 9781419709296
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 272