Set in Northern California in the late ’70s, this timeless coming-of-age story examines the nature of evil, the art of storytelling, and the possibility of redemption.
Fifteen-year-old RJ Armante has never known a life outside his deadend hometown of Arcangel, CA. The Blackjacks rule as they have for generations, luring the poorest kids into their monopoly on petty crime. For years, they’ve left RJ alone, but now they have a job for him: prey upon an old loner in town.
In spite of the danger, RJ begins to resist. He fights not only for himself, but for his younger brother, Charley, whose disability has always made RJ feel extra protective of him. For Roxanne, the girl he can’t reach, and the kids in his crew who have nothing to live for. Even for the old loner, who has secrets of his own. If RJ is to break from the Blackjacks’ hold, all of Arcangel must be free of its past.
Genre: Young Adult Fiction
Fifteen-year-old RJ Armante has never known a life outside his deadend hometown of Arcangel, CA. The Blackjacks rule as they have for generations, luring the poorest kids into their monopoly on petty crime. For years, they’ve left RJ alone, but now they have a job for him: prey upon an old loner in town.
In spite of the danger, RJ begins to resist. He fights not only for himself, but for his younger brother, Charley, whose disability has always made RJ feel extra protective of him. For Roxanne, the girl he can’t reach, and the kids in his crew who have nothing to live for. Even for the old loner, who has secrets of his own. If RJ is to break from the Blackjacks’ hold, all of Arcangel must be free of its past.
Genre: Young Adult Fiction
Praise for this book
"Grant Farley's Bones of a Saint has the gritty, filmic quality of small time Orson Wells border hoods meets S.E Hinton good-boy-gone-wrong sincerity. It's an atmospheric read--more like you are stuck in a box full of rocks than in a book--a niche world of small gains with tragic consequences. The story reads fast and tight and colorful and your eyes always feel low to the ground. The dusty landscape and every object and every person, and even hope itself, pulls you forward toward an ending which is like the sting of a scorpion. You may not see yourself in this book, but the book never lets you out of its sight." - Jack Gantos
"Surreal but at the same time so real, and intensely meaningful. This is the kind of book no one writes anymore, but that everyone wants--and needs--to read." - Maggie Thrash
"Bones of a Saint reads like a dream--I found myself muttering the word 'wow' over and over as I read. My favorite stories are coming-of-age ones that find a new way into the teenage struggle, a new lens through which to view the fight for one's innocence against the adult world's corruption and chaos. Bones of a Saint is exactly that, but there's something else--a grittiness and an honesty that earns the reader's trust from page one. It's like nothing I've read in years." - John Corey Whaley
"Surreal but at the same time so real, and intensely meaningful. This is the kind of book no one writes anymore, but that everyone wants--and needs--to read." - Maggie Thrash
"Bones of a Saint reads like a dream--I found myself muttering the word 'wow' over and over as I read. My favorite stories are coming-of-age ones that find a new way into the teenage struggle, a new lens through which to view the fight for one's innocence against the adult world's corruption and chaos. Bones of a Saint is exactly that, but there's something else--a grittiness and an honesty that earns the reader's trust from page one. It's like nothing I've read in years." - John Corey Whaley
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