A Test of Loyalty

I highly recommend you have your teens read A Test of Loyalty by Laurie Stewart." Gale S.

Isolation... you can feel alone in the most crowded places.
Change... it's the only thing you can count on.
Loyalty.... who deserves yours?

Three teenagers, three cultures. Samantha's background is Rockliffe, a rich and trendy neighbourhood. Ashleigh is from a Mohawk reserve. Faraj, a Muslim, is from Iraq. All three live now with their families in a run down apartment building in Mechanicsville, a neighbourhood struggling with drugs and prostitution. All three are initially set in their ways, biased by their cultures and battling their own demons, but loneliness and day to day challenges push them together into sharing some unexpected friendships. And sharing an unexpected disaster. The three lives are told with alternating points of view, a challenging technique that is well managed. In spite of the occasional rough edge, this is a well written first novel, a rich and accurate portrayal of life in the ghetto, and characters that grow through their new relationships. Each deals in their own way with tragedy, and leaves us feeling both satisfied that issues have been resolved, and wondering at what might come next.
Surrounded by drugs, sexual assault, poverty, and peer pressure. Separated by race, religion, and distrust, they must learn to trust each other. When the unthinkable happens, what changes can they survive?

Ages 14+, this is a gritty look at Ottawa's youth. Book 1 in a series of novellas.
Warning: sexual situations, strong language, drug use