The Rise of Charlie Drop

by Kevin Teague

Meet Charlie Drop, Extraordinaire: smart, funny, occasionally debonair and really, really cross-eyed.

Separated from his beloved brother Henry by their mother's death and a trumped-up murder charge, Charlie Drop finds himself at the mercy of California Foster Care. At first, anything seems better than the Long Beach slum he used to call home. But it doesn't take long for him to decide that life behind the Disney-perfect façade of suburban California isn't all it's cracked up to be.

Taking his fate into his own hands, Charlie abandons upscale dysfunction in favor of a community of separatists. From their Area 51 cave, he begins plotting his way back to Henry, who has promised to find a way to uncross his eyes. Armed with a home-made windbuggy, a pair of prescription Ray Bans and a mute navigator, he embarks on a 1,000-mile journey up America's west coast, toward the family and normalcy he's longed for all his life.

With a voice like Holden Caulfield on a good day and a sharp but forgiving eye for the ludicrous, Charlie delivers a bitingly funny account of his adventures that is sure to appeal to adults and older children alike.