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Young Adult Fiction General (see Also Headings Under Social Themes)

Prince of Pot

by (author) Tanya Lloyd Kyi

Publisher
Groundwood Books Ltd
Initial publish date
Sep 2017
Category
General (see also headings under Social Themes), Country Life, Law & Crime
Recommended Age
13 to 18
Recommended Grade
9 to 12
  • Hardback

    ISBN
    9781554989447
    Publish Date
    Sep 2017
    List Price
    $16.95
  • eBook

    ISBN
    9781554989461
    Publish Date
    Sep 2017
    List Price
    $14.95

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Description

Legalizing weed doesn’t mean that living on a secret, family-run grow-op is easy, especially when your new girlfriend turns out to be the daughter of a cop.

Isaac loves art class, drives an old pickup, argues with his father and hangs out with his best buddy, Hazel. But his life is anything but normal. His parents operate an illegal marijuana grow-op, Hazel is a bear that guards the property, and his family’s livelihood is a deep secret.

It’s no time to fall in love with the daughter of a cop.

Isaac’s girlfriend Sam is unpredictable, ambitious and needy. And as his final year of high school comes to an end, she makes him consider a new kind of life pursuing his interest in art, even if that means leaving behind his beloved home in the Rockies and severing all ties with his family.

For a while he hopes he can have it all, until a disastrous graduation night, when Sam’s desperate grab for her father’s attention suddenly puts his entire family at risk.

Correlates to the Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts:

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.6.6
Explain how an author develops the point of view of the narrator or speaker in a text.

About the author

Tanya Lloyd Kyi
grew up in Creston, B.C. She began her writing career as a high school poet, producing pages and pages of work that her mother loved and her best friend religiously archived (possibly for a future blackmailing scheme). The original edition of Canadian Girls Who Rocked the World was Tanya's first book for young readers. She has since published nine other titles, including Canadian Boys Who Rocked The World, which was short-listed for the Silver Birch Award by the Ontario Library Association. Tanya now lives in Vancouver, B.C.

Tanya Lloyd Kyi's profile page

Excerpt: Prince of Pot (by (author) Tanya Lloyd Kyi)

Waterfall plus girl. That’s apparently what it takes for me to forget where and how I live.

A low, phlegmy grunt reminds me.

Another.

Snuffling.

“Is that what I think it is?” Sam asks, her voice turned raspy. Then she starts whistling. She manages a few notes before she’s all air and no sound.

I know the feeling. It’s hard to whistle when your mouth’s gone dry as a creek bed in August.

That sound was a bear, all right. It was Hazel. I can tell before I catch a glimpse of her cinnamon-speckled fur.

She’s going to ruin my perfect hour.

*

When I push open the door, I startle them all.

There’s an insistent knot in my gut.

“I ran into a hitchhiker by the highway.”

Dad’s eyes narrow.

“And?” he asks.

We just had our biggest fight ever, but he trusts my judgment. With that one word, he’s relying on me to make the call.

“We have a problem.”

Editorial Reviews

An engaging story set in an atypical locale that will universally appeal to teens.

School Library Journal

This truly immersive story … perfectly captures the classic warring emotions of late adolescence.

Booklist

The story is absorbing and full of ethical issues for a teen discussion.(...)Prince of Pot's fast pace and narrative fluency, combined with an interesting setting and relationships, make for a successful tale.

CM: Canadian Review of Materials

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