Crooked

by Laura McNeal

  ALSO BY LAURA AND TOM MCNEAL

  Praise for ZIPPED

  “The McNeals spin a wonderfully rich story.” —Kirkus Reviews

  “Well-realized, sympathetic teen and adult characters populate this novel packed with family problems, romance, and wry humor.”

  —School Library Journal

  Winner of the PEN Center USA Literary Award

  for Children’s Literature

  A New York Public Library Book for the Teen Age

  Praise for CRUSHED

  “A compelling story about youthful mistakes—and how to make amends.” —Publishers Weekly

  “McNeal fans and other young believers in human possibility will find food for thoughtful hope here.”

  —The Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books

  “The dialogue rings true as do the internal thoughts, preoccupations, and uncertainties in the lives of these teens.”

  —Voice of Youth Advocates

  ALSO BY LAURA AND TOM MCNEAL

  THE DECODING OF LANA MORRIS

  Sixteen-year-old Lana Morris wishes her life were different. She wishes Veronica Winters, her Ice Queen of a foster mother, would leave her alone. She wishes K.C. and Trina and Spink—the only teens around, not counting the “special needs” kids in the Winters house—would let her into their creepy little club. She wishes she knew what to do about her feelings for Whit, her foster father.

  Then Lana stumbles into Miss Hekkity’s mysterious antique shop and trades her most valued possession for a single box of paper: thirteen thick, pink-flecked sheets enclosed in a black leather case. Thirteen blank pages . . . like thirteen wishes waiting to be made. As soon as Lana’s charcoal pencil meets the paper, strange events begin to unfold—whatever she draws seems to happen, and whatever she erases comes undone. But just as Lana starts to think she might actually have the power to change things, a carefully drawn wish threatens to harm those she loves most.

  Award-winning authors Laura and Tom McNeal weave a warmhearted and suspenseful story about the power—and danger—of a wish.

  THIS IS A BORZOI BOOK PUBLISHED BY ALFRED A. KNOPF

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the

  product of the authors’ imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to

  actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Copyright © 1999 by Laura McNeal and Tom McNeal

  KNOPF, BORZOI BOOKS, and the colophon are registered trademarks of

  Random House, Inc.

  www.randomhouse.com/teens

  Educators and librarians, for a variety of teaching tools, visit us at

  www.randomhouse.com/teachers

  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

  McNeal, Laura.

  Crooked / by Laura and Tom McNeal.

  p. cm.

  SUMMARY: Two ninth graders, Clara and Amos, suddenly find their lives turned

  upside down by their families, by each other, and by two of the meanest

  brothers in town.

  [1. Interpersonal relations—Fiction. 2. Family problems—Fiction. 3. Schools—

  Fiction. 4. Parent and child—Fiction.] I. McNeal, Tom. II. Title.

  PZ7.M47879365Cr 1999

  [Fic]—dc21

  99-19114

  First Knopf trade paperback edition May 2007

  www.randomhouse.com

  eISBN: 978-0-307-43324-4

  v3.0_r1