Shifty

Shifty, a YA novel by Lynn E. Hazen SHIFTY was chosen for: VOYA's Top Shelf Fiction, as a CCBC Choice, and as a Smithsonian Notable! SHIFTY is a contemporary young adult novel set in San Francisco. Fifteen-year-old Shifty drives illegally, swipes court documents and lies to police and social workers--all in an effort to stay out of trouble. Shifty... parks in a handicapped zone and fast-talks his way out of a ticket by convincing the cop that an old homeless woman is his grandmother. He drives off without a ticket, but with a new pretend grandma in the back of his van. Now his younger foster sister has very opposing views of what to do with their new fake grandma. Both funny and tender, Shifty's misadventures touch on themes of resiliency, home, and lost and found family. And it all begins with a $275 burrito! ...Christina (8th Grade) would "recommend it to all my friends. Shifty has all the appeal that readers, reluctant and avid, would needbeautiful characters you can relate to, a passionate and expertly crafted story, an exciting plot, and a touching yet unanticipated conclusion. Nothing is idealized; nothing is too ugly. Readers will love it beginning to end." --VOYA, February 2009 Lynn talks about her inspiration for SHIFTY and her writing process... I had this teen character named Shifty lurking around in my imagination. He was driving without a license and arguing with a young girl. Who were they? Where were they going? And what were they arguing about? At first I kind of hoped they'd go away because Shifty was clearly a teenager, and I wasn't sure I wanted to write a YA novel. Then (for real) I observed an older woman in a parking lot pushing her leashed cat atop an airport baggage cart--miles from any airport. When I saw her again--cat, cart and all--heading for the showers inside the women's locker room of a 24 hour gym, I couldn't help wondering who she was and where she was living. I jotted some notes (because these characters were not going away). Drawing from memories of kids I'd met years ago ...Read More