Blues for Zoey

Kaz Barrett should be saving for college. Instead, he saves his pay from the Sit'N'Spin Laundromat to send his mother, who suffers from a rare neurological disorder, to a sleep clinic. But when he meets Zoey-a mysterious girl unlike anyone he has met-Kaz's life begins spinning out of control in a whirlwind of lies, half-truths, and violence. She walks in with her music and out with his heart. Kaz Barrett should be saving for college. Instead, he saves his pay from the Sit 'n' Spin Laundromat to send his mother to an expensive sleep clinic in New York. She suffers from a rare neurological disorder, and both Kaz and his kid sister worry that one day, maybe tomorrow, their mother will fall asleep and never wake up. But when pink-haired Zoey walks past the laundromat's window, Kaz's ordered life spins out of control. Smart, mysterious, and full of music, Zoey is unlike anyone Kaz has met . . . but there's another side to her that he can't quite figure out. When he goes looking for answers, he finds a whirlwind of lies, half-truths, and violence that could cost him everything he's worked for. AGES: 12 to 18 AUTHOR: Robert Paul Weston is the author of Dust City and Zorgamazoo (Penguin/Razorbill), which received the 2011 California Young Reader Medal and the 2010 Silver Birch Fiction award, was shortlisted for the E.B. White Read Aloud Award, and was named a Children's Literature Association Notable Book. His stories and novels have been nominated for the Journey Prize and the Fountain Award.