Baker's Dozen: In 13 Days, Justin Baker and the World Will Change »

Joshua Matthew Moorhead is a student at Ohio State University. He lives in Hartville, Ohio.

The Fresh Voices series was inspired by a writing contest of the same name that identified high school writers interested in composing book-length works for young adults. Working with a professional editor, the young authors spent the summer learning about the book industry and meeting journalists while writing their individual books, both fiction and nonfiction. The four titles in this series represent the first four winners of the contest.

A high school student's search for identity unfolds in the backdrop of the chaos and tragedy of 9/11 in this honest and heartfelt novel by a recent high school graduate. Love, faith, animosity, and friendship struggle for balance as protagonist Justin Baker works through the 13 seminal d9ays of his senior year. Already ensconced in a sometimes-bewildering life of high school intrigue, nocturnal pranks, and chance encounters with Vanilla Ice, the tragedy of 2001 informs Justin's rite of passage into adulthood, inspiring him to discover himself and the purpose of society. Written as a series of journal entries, teenagers will be moved by the intimacy of the language and the unique vividness of 9/11 as it is experienced though the eyes of a 17-year-old.

Kathleen Beck - VOYA

On August 31, 2001, as senior year commences, Justin Baker begins his diary. Over the next two weeks, he will record daily events of school and home; his budding relationship with the lovely Leah; his friend Ben's brain surgery; various pranks; estrangement from and reconciliation with his long-time friends; his rediscovery of faith; prom; the Man of the Year competition; and last but not least, the events of September 11. Whew. Moorhead, a college freshman who participated in a summer writing workshop to create this novel, has overstuffed this book. Words spill out in an apparently unedited flow. Grammar and elegance are sacrificed to the flood. Within this torrent, however, are some rough gems. Friday-night football comes vividly to life, and Justin's difficulty waking up on a school day sounds all too familiar. Readers will laugh and groan in sympathy at his reaction to Leah's prom date with a rival: "It was like I just saw Bambi's mom shot for the first time, but then the hunter used her for kindling and roasted Thumper over her too." The narrator's stunned response to the events of September 11 is achingly raw and honest. Adult readers will gain insight into the world of the average "good kids" who think, care, relate, and sometimes screw up. Teens are likely to find their lives more interesting than Justin's. Moorhead may well have a good book in him, but this one is not it. He would be well advised to spend the next few years studying the clear, clean prose of Hemingway and Fitzgerald and then try again. VOYA CODES: 2Q 2P M J (Better editing or work by the author might have warranted a 3Q; For the YA with a special interest in the subject; Middle School, defined as grades 6 to 8;Junior High, defined as grades 7 to 9). 2005, Fresh Voices Books, 217p., Trade pb. Ages 11 to 15.