A Perfect Snow

Chuck and Travis painted Nazi swastikas and 'Kill Kikes' in large dripping orange letters across the front of the house. Then they turned to me. 'Let her rip, Campbell,' Chuck said.... I opened fire and felt the exploding power of each bullet as it left the gun. No one could be stronger than I was at that moment." Ben Campbell, 17, is angry. Angry at having to live in a broken-down trailer park. Angry that his unemployed dad isn't a respected ranch boss any more. Angry at having to defend his exasperating younger brother, David. Most of all, angry at the rich kids at school who seem to get away with everything. Only when he's out with Chuck and Travis, burning a Jew lawyer's car or shooting up a synagogue, does he feel powerful and in control again. It was his dad who got them all going to the meetings of the Guardians of the Identity, where Lonn explained how all their troubles were because of the Jews and the blacks and the homosexuals, and how they had to keep those people from moving into their little Montana town. Ben knows that isn't right, but still, he needs to feel that power. But when he falls in love with Eden Taylor he knows he wants to move beyond Lonn's ideas, and when David gets involved in his place, Ben realizes he must take a stand. This taut, intense, first YA novel by newcomer Nora Martin is as bracing as the Montana snow that blankets the story. (Ages 12 and older) --Patty Campbell