My Time As Caz Hazard

Caz has a pretty good reason when she punches her boyfriend in the face, but she gets expelled anyway. Moving to a new school, she is told she is dyslexic and is sent to special education classes. Caz tries to fit in and get by while suffering the taunts and abuse that others throw at the students in her class. Her friendship with Amanda leads her into new territory-shoplifting and skipping school. Coupled with her parents' impending separation, her life is spiraling out of control.

When Caz and Amanda's behavior seem to contribute to a classmate's suicide, Caz must take a long hard look at her life. Caz thinks she has a pretty good reason when she punches her boyfriend in the face, but she gets expelled anyway. Moving to a new school, she is told she is dyslexic and sent to special education classes. Caz tries to fit in and get by while suffering the taunts and abuse that others throw at the students in her class. Her friendship with Amanda leads her into new territory-shop-lifting and skipping school. Coupled with her parents' impending separation, her life is anything but stable and continues to spiral out of control.

"Dodie Dunstan died last night," she said. Strangely, my first thought was that Dodie had a last name. Other than Doorknob that is. Was that how you talked about a dead person? You used her full name? Ms. Samuels' voice caught, but continued. "The police don't suspect foul play." "That means what?" I asked, confused. "She offed herself. Suicide," Jaz said, turning his intense stare in my direction for the first time all morning. He pursed his lips, considering. "She seems like the pill type to me. She wouldn't want to see blood." Caz thinks she has a pretty good reason when she punches her boyfriend in the face, but she gets expelled anyway. Moving to a new school, she is told she is dyslexic and sent to special education classes. Caz tries to fit in and get by while suffering the taunts and abuse that others throw at the students in her class. Her friendship with Amanda leads her into new territory-shoplifting and skipping school. Coupled with her parents' impending separation, her life is anything but stable and continues to spiral out of control. My Time as Caz Hazard is Tanya Lloyd Kyi's second Orca Soundings novel. Her first, Truth, was an ALA Quick Pick.

Diane Emge - VOYA

The Canadian-based Orca Soundings series fulfills the wishes of countless librarians and teachers by providing well-written, relevant stories geared toward lower level readers. These slender books are an easy sell with their colorful, teen-savvy covers and edgy titles. A broad range of topics and viewpoints allow readers plenty of choices for individual reading preferences, as demonstrated by four recent additions. My Time as Caz Hazard is the story of Caz, a teenage girl who finds herself transferred to a new school at the beginning of her junior year. She is also placed in a remedial reading class, where she is simultaneously embarrassed over her new "special-ed" designation and relieved to have help with her academic struggles. She finds herself changing under the stress of the new situation and problems at home and does not entirely like the person she is becoming. Dialogue is sharp, and the plot moves quickly, although as with many books in this series, character development is fairly breezy. There are eighteen previous books in the series. Most are suitable for middle school through high school readers. There are many reasons why teens find themselves uninterested in reading, but these books are great tools for luring them back. VOYA CODES: 4Q 3P M J S (Better than most, marred only by occasional lapses; Will appeal with pushing; Middle School, defined as grades 6 to 8; Junior High, defined as grades 7 to 9; Senior High, defined as grades 10 to 12). 2004, Orca, 103p., Trade pb. Ages 11 to 18.