South of Heaven

"Her name is Christine Younskevicius. But almost everyone calls her YY, since that's so much easier than trying to negotiate the swamp of dipthongs that makes up her Lithuanian last name."
- Thomas French in his novel South of Heaven

I love the turn of phrase and rhythm in that sentence!

The novel was published in 1993 so I'm more than a decade late, but an editor just passed it on.

While covering education for the St. Pete Times, French spent the 1989-90 school year wandering the halls of Largo High School in Pinellas County, Fla., and gaining access to the teenage world.

"As they revealed themselves to French, the teenagers provided a provocative portrait of growing up in a time when drugs, guns, AIDS, and suicide are everyday concerns."

It resulted in a series of articles and eventually this book.

I can only imagine how difficult it was to compile all his notes and observations into a book--and verify the accuracy of 363 pages of direct quotes!

Inspiring read... for a reporter like me who'd eventually like to write a novel--not necessarily related to the field.