Press Release: Shifty by Lynn E. Hazen
This fast-paced YA novel by an award-winning author is now available in paperback.
Summer is just starting and I’m getting into trouble without even trying. Just like the summer I got sent to juvie. Only none of that was my fault. Now it’s happening all over again. I park the van for just a second in the bus zone on Mission Street. I need to buy me a burrito after the last day of school. I look first—and there’s no bus coming. But cops are always looking too. Looking for guys like me.When fifteen-year-old Soli, aka Shifty, is assigned to a new foster home, he tries hard to keep cool and stay out of trouble. But soon he and his seven-year-old foster sister Sissy are launched into a series of escapades involving a homeless woman, an unfriendly social worker, and the mysteries Shifty discovers in his case file.
Award-winning author Lynn E. Hazen has crafted a fast-paced young-adult novel that vividly captures the emotional territory of a teenage boy who knows all about moving around and nothing about where he came from.
2008 Smithsonian Notable Book for Children
VOYA (Voice of Youth Advocates) Top Shelf Fiction for Middle School Readers
CCBC (Cooperative Children’s Book Center) Choice 2009
“This combination of personal flaws and situational difficulties create a realistic story that resonates. Smart writing and an engaging narrative keep the story fresh, while an interesting plot will keep readers turning the pages.” —Kirkus Reviews
“…the realistic relationships between the four foster family members, their ability to believe in each other in a world where each of them has already had more than their share of bad breaks and Soli’s survivor-humor make these characters memorable.” —Shelf Awareness
“… Shifty doesn’t know anything about his parents or if his future holds any hope, but he does know that his brief existence has had more than its share of pain and loss. In deceptively straightforward prose, author Lynn Hazen brings Shifty’s San Francisco world to life on the page. Original, telling details, a compassionate eye, and Hazen’s intuitive understanding of how love and trust can save us make “Shifty” a book to treasure.” —Alison McGhee, author of New York Times bestseller Someday
LYNN E. HAZEN is the author of the middle-grade novel, Mermaid Mary Margaret which was hailed “a winner” by Kirkus Reviews. She lives with her family in San Francisco, California. For more information visit www.shiftythebook.com .
by Lynn E. Hazen
$7.99 PB • 978-1-58246-322-3
5 ½ x 8 ½ inches • 192 pages • ages 12 and up
On sale: 3/23/10
Also available in hardcover: $15.99 • ISBN-13: 978-1-58246-257-8
For more information, digital cover art, to arrange an interview, or to receive a review copy, please contact: Hayley Gonnason, Publicist, Tricycle Press at: hayley.gonnason@tenspeed.com, 510-559-1600 ext. 3087.
