Fix Me

by Lisa M. Cronkhite

Overview

Penelope Wryter‘s life has been a mess ever since her sister committed suicide a year ago. Now Pen’s hooked on Fix, an illegal drug that makes her feel, think, and see differently. The hallucinations are intense, but there’s one vision that keeps Pen coming back for more—Nate. He’s the only person who cares about her. Too bad he’s just a side effect of the drug.

Pen knows she’s going nowhere fast. She’s desperate to change. But when she tries to say goodbye to Nate, he professes his love for her making her more confused than ever. Then, when a girl from school goes missing during a bad Fix trip, Pen realizes she may be in a lot more danger than she ever imagined. Unless Pen straightens up and faces reality quick, she might be the next missing girl on the list.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781635830088
Publisher:	North Star Editions
Publication date:	11/28/2017
Pages:	256
Product dimensions:	5.20(w) x 7.90(h) x 0.60(d)
Age Range:	12 - 18 Years

About the Author

Lisa M. Cronkhite is the author of Dreaming a Reality, Demon Girl, Deep in the Meadows and her most recent release, Disconnected. Her work has also appeared online and in print magazines including Storyteller, Poetry Salzburg Review, and Ruminate Magazine. She lives and writes in a small suburb near Chicago. You can find her online at www.writingsbylisamcronkhite.blogspot.com and on Twitter @lmcronkhite.

Editorial Reviews

10/16/2017
In this uninspired mystery from Cronkhite (Disconnected), Penelope Wryter’s life has been taken over by her addiction to the drug Fix in the year since her older sister’s suicide. Fix causes intense hallucinations, and for Penelope, one of those hallucinations appears as a teenage boy named Nate. Penelope spends much of her time getting high in order to figure out what Nate is suddenly trying to tell her or dealing with the consequences of the terrible decisions she makes while on the drug. When another teenage girl goes missing, Penelope briefly investigates what happens to her, but she quickly gets caught back up in her obsession with Nate, to the exclusion of a real relationship with her ex-boyfriend, Walker, who still cares for her. There are two mysteries at play, but neither is clear or well developed. Penelope’s obsession with Nate and the drug leave little room for character development, and the stiff dialogue and first-person narration (“I tell her that sounds like a good idea and that maybe I’ll bring it up to Rose and my other friends”) don’t do much to sustain interest. Ages 12–up. (Nov.)

Publishers Weekly

"Cronkhite does much well; she captures the 'I need to stop but can't' feelings of an addict beautifully as well as the feelings of peer pressure, isolation, and depression that often accompany teenage years."—Kirkus Reviews

"Sliding in between Fix and reality, Pen tries to solve the mystery of the missing girl, never sure what’s real."—Booklist

"[This book] is packed with moments that may lead to discussions about suicide, feeling alone, abusive relationships, drugs, bullies, and hope. A good book for any library collection serving young adults."—VOYA

"A quick read that a lot of teens will be interested in."—School Library Connection

From the Publisher

10/01/2017
Gr 9 Up—High schooler Penelope Wryter has been addicted to Fix, an illegal drug that allows users to manipulate the world around them, ever since her sister's suicide a year ago. She's considering quitting, but her best friend Rosario won't let up. Plus, the only time she sees Nate—the one thing keeping her together—is when she's high. Nate's just a side effect of the drug, after all. But as girls at Pen's school disappear while on Fix, reality and fantasy start to collide. Soon, Pen's forced to question everything she thinks she knows, from her loyalty to her friends to her own sanity. While the story line sounds exciting, the narrative has many shortcomings. The adult characters are mostly scenery, only appearing when necessary to advance the plot. The single exception is Pen's mother and her romantic relationship, which—while both emotionally and physically abusive—is treated as an inconvenience by Pen. In fact, every relationship is dangerously flawed, yet these issues are continually glossed over. When Rose's boyfriend, Clay, tries to force himself on Pen but is interrupted by her ex-boyfriend, Walker, he blames Pen for throwing herself at other guys. This attitude—which Walker displays fairly consistently throughout the novel—makes Pen's emotional transition from indifference to love beyond unbelievable. There's nothing redeemable about any of the characters. VERDICT Readers looking for a good thriller with characters worth rooting for should check out Barry Lyga's I Hunt Killers or There's Someone Inside Your House by Stephanie Perkins. Not recommended.—Kaitlin Frick, New York Public Library

School Library Journal