MY CHEMICAL MOUNTAIN

In the vein of S. E. Hinton's The Outsiders, and in eco-warrior fierceness that will recall Erin Brockovich, comes My Chemical Mountain, a powerful, mesmerizing high-octane drama.

Winner of the 30th Annual Delacorte Prize for a First YA Novel.

Rocked by his father's recent death and his mother's sudden compulsion to overeat, Jason lashes out by breaking into the abandoned mills and factories that plague his run-down town. Always by his side are his two best friends, Charlie, a fearless thrill junkie, and Cornpup, a geek inventor whose back is covered with cysts. The boys rage against the noxious pollution that suffocates their town and despise those responsible for it; at the same time, they embrace the danger of their industrial wasteland and boast about living on the edge.

Then on a night the boys vandalize one of the mills, Jason makes a costly mistake--and unwittingly becomes a catalyst for change. In a town like his, change should be a good thing. There's only one problem: change is what Jason fears most of all.