Sliding on the Edge by C. Lee McKenzie

Shawna Stone, sixteen, can handle anything from a Las Vegas hustle to skipping out on the rent. Scarred inside and out, she's survived with a tough, hardened attitude. Yet she's thrown when her mother abandons her in Vegas with only a bus ticket and the name and number of a stranger to call. Now this troubled, desperate teen finds herself on a Northern California horse ranch with Kay Stone, her steely, youngish, disillusioned grandmother,who overwhelms Shawna with rules and daily barn chores. Shawna will baffle Kay with her foul mouthed anger and shrugging indifference to everything--except the maltreated horse on the ranch next door. But it's worse than even Kay suspects: Shawna's driven to cut herself by that strange voice inside her head,which at times has been her only steady companion.Kay, brittle from the loss of her marriage and her only son, struggles to keep the ranch going with only Kenny, the broken down drifter she hired, to lean on. Wondering what secrets hide behind Shawna's barricade, Kay fears that unless she somehow helps this troubled girl, she could lose her last living family member. And Kay's own secret is the very one that's kept Shawna and her mother away for all these years. As this unlikely pair struggles to co-exist, will they overcome their inner suffering to build a bridge to each other, and together find the strength to transcend the past? - from book jacket

*****

Sliding on the Edge is an emotional and edgy story of one girl’s journey to recovery. Shawna is a tough girl, she has to be to survive some of America’s roughest cities. When her mom leaves her alone in Las Vegas with only a hundred bucks to buy a bus ticket and a phone number, Shawna soon finds herself on a Californian horse ranch living with a grandmother she never knew existed. Besides her problematic anger issues and rough exterior, Shawna turns to cutting herself when a she can’t handle the pressure any longer.

With the help of a mistreated horse, the truth, and a some friends, Shawna learns that hurting herself will not make the anger and pain she feels go away.

Sliding on the Edge’s characters are very real and you get to read two different perspectives: Shawna’s and Kay’s. I believe teens can relate and learn from Shawna and her grandmother as they discover how to accept and face their problems.

Overall, Sliding on the Edge is a touching and vivid message of pain, sadness, and hope by debut author C. Lee McKenzie. Wether you’re looking for something edgy or experiencing problems like Shawna, this book is great for teens and would be a great addition to any YA library collection. Hope to see more from McKenzie!

~C. Lee McKenzie is a native of California and has been a university lecturer and administrator. She has written and published various non-fiction articles, edited university newspapers, and short stories. Sliding on the Edge is her first novel for Young Adults.~

|Pages: 266|Year Published: April 2009|Publisher: WestSide|

|Genre: Contemporary fiction, drama, family, teen issues|

|Age Group: YA, ages 14+|Content: Language, sensuality, and cutting|

|Enjoyed It: 3/5|Content Rating: 3/5|Cover: 2/5|

|Overall|