Scrawl

How it reads

Scrawl is young adult (young adult literary fiction, specifically), and its dominant mood is dark. It goes to difficult places and doesn't look away. The pace is moderate — neither a page-turner nor a slow burn — so it holds up whether you read it in long sittings or short ones.

It's set in a suburban setting, in the present day, told in the first person by a single narrator. Its central concerns are identity, coming of age and secrets. In weight it sits in the middle: substantial without being heavy going.

It stands alone, so there's nothing else you need to read first or after. The ending is bittersweet: it resolves, but at a price. At 232 pages it's a quick read. It's a hidden gem — known to relatively few readers.