Smile or Die!

One out of five kids in school today has a gun, knife or club. School violence grabs at the gut of America & concerned adults want to know who their kid is in school with. SMILE OR DIE! shows them, through the eyes of a tormented twelve year-old modeled after a real-life character fiercely determined to confound the system. He pulls no punches to effect his demands, including poking pins through his fingers. He's as out of place in school as the wild skunk that follows him in. The story revolves around his interaction with people who variously want to help, hurt, trick & ignore him. The book tackles behavior behind the forces driving the coarsening of America. It is adult fiction from the trenches of miscreants mingling with rosy-cheeked straights. Plot develops from research of a middle school counselor's actual experience. 5.5 X 8.5, softcover, 272 pages. Fiction/psychology. Order through Pacific Pipeline; The Bookmen or call direct at 1-800-PEASANT. 40%.Shafer, J. is the author of 'Smile or Die!' with ISBN 9781884847240 and ISBN 1884847242.