Gr 9 Up-Faith is a mere toddler when she witnesses a bloody shoot-out between police and a neighborhood gangster. Because Faith's single mother and her bitter grandmother provide a very loose and dysfunctional family structure, Faith never receives guidance or counseling. With her two half sisters, Constance and Destiny, she grows up in a poor, run-down area where drug use is rampant and where their widowed mother succumbs to addiction, leaving them very much alone. The one person whom Faith can trust and talk with is her older sister, Constance, the daughter of the only man their mother ever married. Told in Faith's tortured voice, this novel traces the path of despair as she loses everything that a growing young woman needs to survive and thrive. Abandonment, neglect, scorn, and a profound lack of positive adult influence send Faith to the streets, where she ekes out an existence focused maniacally on one goalfinding and using heroin. Reminiscent of notable classic titles such as Go Ask Alice and Alice Childress's seminal work, A Hero Ain't Nothin' but a Sandwich , Graziani's heartrending novel is a gritty, realistic voyage through a teen's path of despair and the all-too-tempting panacea of self-medication through drugs, which soon destroys those who would "chase the dragon." VERDICT Many older teens will connect with this believable portrait of a teen experience with homelessness and addiction. Denise Kim, Bronx High School of Science, NY

This is the story of eighteen-year-old Faith Emily Hansen, who narrates her life of emotional trauma and eventual addiction. Faith explains that she tells this story hoping to help others who may be facing difficult family situations or experiencing mental illness. She wants to help prevent those situations from leading to drug addiction or worse. Faith experienced a traumatic event at four years old that casts a shadow throughout the rest of her young life. In addition, Faith’s mother has been able to deal with the grief over the death of her husband only through drug abuse. The only blessings in Faith’s life are her relationships with her older sister, Constance, and her younger sister, Destiny. The three girls’ main caregiver is their grandmother because their mother increasingly escapes her obligations to the girls and ultimately abandons them. The dark days are unrelenting until Faith’s high school years, when she makes two friends who understand being bullied and face family difficulties of their own. Faith’s downfall comes, surprisingly, as the result of an unwitting betrayal by her beloved older sister. Breaking Faith is an unflinching look at mental illness and addiction. The events of Faith’s life are heartbreaking, the more so for being completely believable. The themes of mental illness, drug addiction, and life on the street as a runaway are explored in realistic detail.—Debbie Kirchhoff.