Bull’s Eye
(2007) Orca Book Publishers
ISBN: 9781551436791
Bull's Eye is part of the Orca Soundings series for reluctant teen readers. The books are only 16,000 words long and have to use simple language, so they are challenging to write. I was interested in telling a complex story in the most direct way, without sacrificing plot or characterization, and it turned out be a great writing exercise for me.
After Emily's aunt dies, Emily learns that everything she has always believed is a lie, and her world crumbles. Forced to face the fact that her mother is not who she thought she was, Emily tries to find the truth about her past and make sense of her future. Turning to graffiti and vandalism as a way to deal with her anger, she comes to realize that there is more to a family than shared DNA. (read excerpt)