Dear Life, You Suck

An oldest ward in a Catholic boys' home in Maine, irreverent 17-year-old Cricket unenthusiastically considers various prospects before concluding that life is no longer worth living, an outlook that is transformed when he meets an unusual girl. A first novel. 15,000 first printing.

About the author

Writer Scott Blagden grew up in Foxborough, Massachusetts and has been self-employed in real estate for thirty years. He published Dear Life, You Suck in 2013.
 

Report

"A profane, profound debut. . . . One of the most wrenching and engaging young-adult books to come along in ages." - The Wall Street Journal "This is a truly original work, and fans of Sherman Alexie may find a new favorite in Blagden."
- School Library Journal, starred review
"Dear story, you rock. . . . All readers will appreciate Cricket's complex, lovable character and the strong adults who nourish it."
- Kirkus

"Through Cricket, Blagden offers a fine masculine viewpoint that expresses the intensity of grief."
- Booklist

"Readers who like male protagonists and gritty, contemporary settings will enjoy this carefully crafted novel."
- VOYA, 3Q 3P J S

"Cricket conveys his damage through a wildly inventive voice; his often profound philosophies and speculations about life, parents, art, sex, and God are couched in energetic (and sometimes shockingly profane) imagery that turn ordinary language into the verbal equivalent of a Chihuly glass sculpture--colorful, twisted, brittle, and arresting."
- Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books

"Holden Caulfield, meet 2013. With his irreverent, hilarious, and heartbreaking first novel, one thing is clear: Scott Blagden is the real thing."
-Deb Caletti

" Dear Life, You Suck will certainly offend a few and delight thousands. Profane, sacrilegious, and defiant, this debut novels crackles with energy. It has depth and human significance, by which I mean the real stuff of real life."
-Ron Koertge

"Cricket Cherpin is profane, funny, hard, vulnerable, kind, angry. In other words, he's as complex and as unique as you or me. His unusual and realistic voice will grab you from the first page and stay with you long after the last one."
-Francisco X. Stork

"Dear Cricket, you rock !"
-Tim Wynne-Jones

Product details

• Authors: Scott Blagden
• Publisher: Mariner Books
• Languages: English
• Age Recommendation: ages 14 to 99
• Product format: Paperback
• Released: 03.02.2015
• EAN: 9780544336216
• ISBN: 978-0-544-33621-6
• Dimensions: 140 mm x 210 mm x 22 mm
• Subjects: Children's and young people's books > Children's books up to 11 years of age; Children’s / Teenage fiction: Family and home stories, Interest age: from c 12 years, Relating to Christian people and groups, YOUNG ADULT FICTION: Romance / General *, YOUNG ADULT FICTION: Social Themes / Bullying *, YOUNG ADULT FICTION: Social Themes / Emotions & Feelings *, YOUNG ADULT FICTION: Boys & Men *, YOUNG ADULT FICTION: Coming of Age *, YOUNG ADULT FICTION: Family / Orphans & Foster Homes *, YOUNG ADULT FICTION: Religious / Christian / General *, YOUNG ADULT FICTION: Social Themes / Religion & Faith *, Children’s / Teenage fiction: Romance and love stories