Permanent Record — Leslie Stella

It was all a huge misunderstanding. When 16 year old Bud Hess blew up a toilet at his old high school, he didn't think he?d be caught. But what else could he do when the jock on the wrestling team regularly subjected him to humiliating swirlies? And when he attempted to sabotage the boiler room in order to seek revenge against the guys who tormented him, he didn't think that the steam pipes would do that much damage. And the list of ?enemies to be eliminated He didn't mean it at all like it sounded. With his parents? urging and his shrink's approval, Bud starts over with a clean slate at St. Magnificat, a Catholic school on Chicago's north side. At first things seem to be going well and Bud's new friends Nikki and Reggie seem to accept him for who he is. But there's still much that Bud is hiding ? from his friends and his Iranian family, not to mention his psychiatrist. When it looks like someone is targeting the school with threats, the authorities worry that they could have another Columbine on their hands. But is it Bud? Or someone else? And will the truth force Bud to face the deepest, darkest part of himself, no matter what the cost? Leslie Stella's Permanent Record is a poignant but darkly comedic journey into one depressed, OCD, anxiety-ridden teen aged soul. A realistic portrait of adolescent depression and loneliness, it is also a tender and heartwarming testament to friendship. Stella has channeled the voices of these teenagers expertly, revealing their anguish, their struggle to be ?ordinary? and their fragile sense of hope.