Dear Life, You Suck

Irreverent, foulmouthed seventeen-year-old Cricket is the oldest ward in a Catholic boys’ home in Maine—and his life sucks. With prospects for the future that range from professional fighter to professional drug dealer, he seems doomed to a life of “criminal rapscallinity.” In fact, things look so bleak that Cricket can’t help but wonder if his best option is one final cliff dive into the great unknown. But then Wynona Bidaban steps into his world, and Cricket slowly realizes that maybe, just maybe, life doesn’t totally suck.

He’s supposed to be a lost cause. What happens when one person refuses to give up on him?

• Cynical Hero: Cricket is foulmouthed, scarred, and the oldest kid in a Catholic boys’ home. He’s convinced his life sucks—and he’s not afraid to say so.
• First Love: He’s all sharp edges and sarcasm until Wynona Bidaban steps into his world. She’s the one person who might prove life doesn’t totally suck.
• Found Family: As the unofficial protector of the younger boys, Cricket has built his own kind of family in the last place he ever expected.
• Heartbreak and Hope: Behind the irreverent attitude is a kid haunted by his past. This moving, realistic novel tackles serious themes, including suicidal thoughts, with unflinching honesty and dark humor.

"A profane, profound debut. . . . One of the most wrenching and engaging young-adult books to come along in ages."—The Wall Street Journal "This is a truly original work, and fans of Sherman Alexie may find a new favorite in Blagden."
—School Library Journal, starred review
 "Dear story, you rock. . . . All readers will appreciate Cricket's complex, lovable character and the strong adults who nourish it."
—Kirkus

"Through Cricket, Blagden offers a fine masculine viewpoint that expresses the intensity of grief."
—Booklist

"Readers who like male protagonists and gritty, contemporary settings will enjoy this carefully crafted novel."
—VOYA, 3Q 3P J S

"Cricket conveys his damage through a wildly inventive voice; his often profound philosophies and speculations about life, parents, art, sex, and God are couched in energetic (and sometimes shockingly profane) imagery that turn ordinary language into the verbal equivalent of a Chihuly glass sculpture--colorful, twisted, brittle, and arresting."
—Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books

"Holden Caulfield, meet 2013. With his irreverent, hilarious, and heartbreaking first novel, one thing is clear: Scott Blagden is the real thing."
—Deb Caletti

"Dear Life, You Suck will certainly offend a few and delight thousands. Profane, sacrilegious, and defiant, this debut novels crackles with energy. It has depth and human significance, by which I mean the real stuff of real life."
—Ron Koertge

"Cricket Cherpin is profane, funny, hard, vulnerable, kind, angry. In other words, he's as complex and as unique as you or me. His unusual and realistic voice will grab you from the first page and stay with you long after the last one."
—Francisco X. Stork

"Dear Cricket, you rock!"
—Tim Wynne-Jones