Overview

Olivia spends her nights drumming in a band, hanging out in clubs and drinking, and her days hungover at school. When her bandmate Lucas catches Olivia talking to her friend Raymond in the women's washroom, he beats up Raymond in a jealous rage. When Lucas tells Olivia that Raymond's criminal brother is looking for them for payback, they go on the run together. Lucas keeps Olivia drunk and off-balance, telling her he loves her and pressuring her to have sex with him. When Olivia finally discovers that the story about Raymond's brother is a lie, she realizes she has to get out of Lucas's obsessive trap. Distributed in the U.S by Lerner Publishing Group.

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9781459411005

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Reviews

Trap Jam by Steven Barwin would be perfect for the reluctant young adult reader. The author explores many issues including but not limited to underage drinking, at-risk behaviour, racism, peer pressure, [and lying to name a few. The short fast moving chapters make this a quick read. This original novel would lend itself to small or large group discussions. --Keep Calm Novel On, Educator and NetGalley Reviewer (01/17/2016)

Sixteen-year-old Olivia, of mixed Cuban and Jamaican heritage, pretends to be a college student to get a gig as a band's drummer in a story about escalating bad decisions, part of the SideStreets series, written at a third-grade reading level. Before long, playing (and drinking) with the band is taking a toll on Olivia's everyday life as her grades suffer and she starts showing up hungover to school. Meanwhile, one of Olivia's bandmates, Lucas, is aggressively pursuing her romantically, not knowing that she's underage. Barwin (Hardball) maintains a fast-paced story, blending multiple hot-button issues including controlling relationships and substance abuse. The plot gets over-the-top toward the end, but readers should be sufficiently invested in Olivia's story to find out whether she can escape her downward spiral.--Publishers Weekly -- Journal

Author Information

STEVEN BARWIN is a middle school teacher in Thornhill, ON. He is the author of seven books in the Lorimer Sports Stories series, including Spiked, named one of Resource Links Best for 2013.

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