MY CROOKED FAMILY

A turn-of-the-century 13-year-old abandons the straight and narrow for the big money and high style of a life of crime. Roger's ne'er-do-well father lies, gunshot, in the hospital. Since his mother is in a drunken haze, as usual, it's up to him to fend for himself and his younger sister. He attempts a first theft (a bucket of Chinese food) and is promptly hauled off to the police station, where he falls in with ``Circus'' Penrose, a flashy smooth talker who invites him in on a series of ``jobs.'' After a weak show of reluctance, Roger agrees and soon finds the lure of easy money irresistible. Even watching his father shoot Circus down after a robbery doesn't give him pause—it just makes him realize that he has to watch out for himself. Little character development or sense of place here, but readers will certainly see that Roger's choice is a dead end—a fact to which he himself is completely blind. (Fiction. 13-16)*justify no*