Smack

"Dandelion, I love you." I'll never forget that. This book was a trip. I read it over 20 years ago and I believe it's time for a re-read.

When I picked this up, I was expecting some kids to think drugs were cool, then run with a fast sex, drugs, and rock n' roll crowd, have a huge tragedy strike, and then get the propaganda message that DRUGS ARE BAD (think "Go Ask Alice"). Boy, was I in for a surprise. This book is an easy read, but a much more complex tale than a simple parable about how drugs are bad. The two main characters, Tar and Gemma, leave home for things that every teenager in the world has felt in some way. Tar is abused, and leaves the hell of homelife for peace on the streets. Gemma represents every teenager who is smarter than her parents and resents their control over her life. She leaves for less justifiable reasons than Tar, but her emotions are ones anyone can identify with. There are a lot of people on the streets and in the squats--anarchists, straight-edge vegans, punks, pot smokers, and heroin users. Tar and Gemma find friends and their own form of a family, and it is very easy to see how they slipped into the world of drugs, namely heroin. This book has shocking events in it, but the characters are so numb to it all that they describe it in a subtle and offhand manner. Girls who sell the bodies for drug money in no way consider themselves prostitutes, because they have standards and they do it "on their terms," and on and on. The reader gets sucked up in this life and I found myself wanting to smack these characters and say, NO, what you are doing is not justifiable. This book has a beautiful ending that took me by surprise. No, the world is not covered in roses in the end, but neither has everyone succumbed to hell. I'd like to make a comment about the appropriate age for this book. My sister is a voracious reader. She's now 17 and was able to appreciate this book when we both read and discussed it, but she had tried to read it at age 9 or 10, and it was too much for her to handle at that age. This is a book for early high school, not for middle school readers.

When 2 teenage children run away from home together, they seek shelter in a squatting den with 3 others. But, the other squatters don't like Gemma, so Gemma and Tar move on, and find themselves under the care of 2 older people.A gripping tale of teenagers being drawn to the wrong corwd, and regretting it for the rest of their lives...

This book is great. It was originally publishes as Smack, so don't think of it as sequel. Its just under a different name. I first read it under the title Smack, and have since gone through numerous copies. This book is true-to-life. If you want a good tue-to-life read, try this.

Junk is an outstanding book that explores the world of drugs and throws you into the typical life of a 'junkie'. It is a powerful book that has you gripped from the start, like any good book that you simply cannot put down. It has a great layout that puts you into the junkies' minds', looking out on their world, clearly giving you the ups and downs of junk. It shows just how dangerous a world full of junk can be.This is a book that well deserves the 5 star treatment.

When i bought smack i could not put it down. then i was told that junk was the sequel to smack. so i bought that and it is the same book. i was mad. so don't be folled because the athour re-named the book.