On the Head of a Pin

Just as she did with her previous book AIMEE, Mary Beth Miller has swept up into the lives of her characters. This intense portrayal of a situation that gets out of hand will keep you thinking and remembering for a long time.

On the Head of a Pin Mary Beth Miller The murder of Helen Mitchell, the local homecoming queen, tears a small town apart. Josh's drunken friend, Andy, accidentally shoots Helen at his party while playing with his father's rifle. Andy and Victor, Andy's dangerous friend, force Josh to help them bury Helen's body in the woods and frame Michael for his girlfriend's murder. Michael leaves town because of a fight with his father before he learns of Helen's death. Once he finds out, the only things that keep him going are his obsession for finding Helen's murderer and rescuing his brother from the abusive father he left behind. When Helen dies, Michael loses his ability to paint and draw, and part of his path to the truth and to clear his name is learning to trust adults again. Although Josh did not commit the murder, it haunts him because he blames himself for his sister's drowning accident the previous year that has left her comatose. He tries to act normal while guilt and his sudden loss of faith literally eat him alive. Michael's and Josh's stories collide when they must face Helen's murderer in an attempt to bring out the truth. Mary Beth Miller, author of Aimee, successfully masters the double male teenage narrative, allowing the reader to forget the gender of the author and become lost in the story. Miller also confronts the issues of guilt, loyalty to friends, the importance of social groups in teen society, and teens trusting adults in this contemporary action novel.

Mary Beth Miller made a splash with her wildly successful, award-nominated debut novel Aimee, about the assisted suicide of a very troubled teen girl. In On the Head of a Pin, Miller again creates an intense psychological drama, complete with similarly self-absorbed, clueless, and mistrusting adults. On the Head of a Pin differs from her first novel, both in the gender of the main characters, and the nature of the central action. Here, we have a trio of reluctant friends who accidentally perpetuate a crime and are forced together in the cover-up, each with their own motivations, fears, and obligations. None can fully trust their others, nor himself. A fourth male is forced on the lam by his family situation, and suspicion starts to spread in his direction. The book is about figuring out who to trust (and surprisingly, there are some adults who come through for troubled teens in here) and how far one can go without being true to oneself. One character struggles with guilt over his sister's paralyzing accident, one tries to protect a younger sibling from a step-parent's rampages, and others are trying to figure out their place in the hierarchy of high school. I was surprised to see that formal reviews tagged this novel with a "strong antigun message." A gun is involved in the accidental crime. It is an element of the plot, and there are certainly lessons to be learned about mixing alcohol and reckless gun play. But there is no formal message, and absolutely no preaching about gun control. The strength of both of Miller's novels is her ability to raise issues such as suicide, child abuse, gun usage, organized religion, and family skeletons without giving the reader a suggested answer. She writes candidly about issues that are important for teens to consider and fit into their own personal belief structure.

When you open ON THE HEAD OF A PIN to read what the book is about, the first line that jumps out at you is "one thoughtless act can impact many lives." This is the basis for Mary Beth Miller's latest release, and it definitely holds true for the characters of ON THE HEAD OF A PIN. Five teenagers, all as different as can be. There's Helen, the beautiful Homecoming Queen who didn't ask for her title. She wants nothing more than to finish high school and go away to college, so that she can finally bring her relationship with her boyfriend, Michael, out into the open. Her parents don't understand what she could possibly see in him, a boy already graduated from high school who spends his free time painting pictures. He's not the type of boy her parents want to see their daughter with, even if she does claim to love him. He comes from a questionable family, and he's definitely not the upstanding guy Helen should be dating. Then there's Michael himself, a young man who spends all of his time either avoiding his father, taking care of his younger brother, Richie, working at a garage fixing cars, or taking his canvases into the woods to paint. Although he loves Helen and wants to be with her, he understands why her parents are hesitant about their relationship--after all, the tension at home is enough to drive anyone crazy. Then there's Joshua, a boy who still torments himself over the death of his sister, Angela. He's come to the conclusion that he would be best served by becoming a priest, since he did make God a promise. But he's become increasingly worried about his best friend, Andy, who has started hanging around with Victor, a guy that gives Josh the creeps. We have Andy, the boy who always has to be the center of attention. His stories get bigger the more he tells them, and there's always a mention of his parent's money in their somewhere. Although he's the one who inadvertently started the events that would change all of their lives, he's not about to take the fall. And lastly the enigmatic Victor, the bad boy that everyone avoids as often as possible. He definitely has a hand in getting people riled up, but what is it about him that draws Andy to him like a moth to a flame? Five teenagers, one gun, one disposed of body. One of the five is now dead, and another one soon will be. One goes crazy, one loses his mind with grief, and one will end up in prison. But how does this happen, to whom, and why? Pick up a copy of ON THE HEAD OF A PIN to find out--it's a great mystery for teens and adults alike.