by Nick Lake
First published 2012
Shorty cannot move. Concrete pins his body beneath the wreckage of a collapsed building in Port-au-Prince. The 2010 earthquake has buried him alive. He waits in the darkness, fighting panic and pain. This teenager knows the streets of Haiti's capital. He has survived in the slums where gangs control every corner. The same criminal world that promised him power has delivered only violence. Boys like Shorty learn to kill or die young. Dreams crumble as fast as buildings in his shattered city. Now Shorty faces a different kind of survival. He must stay conscious while his body fails. He must keep hope while death closes in. The rubble above him weighs tons. Rescue may never come. In this buried space between life and death, Shorty confronts what his choices have cost him and everyone he loves.
Genres: fiction, literary-fiction, adventure, contemporary
Vibes: dark, emotional, intimate, suspenseful
Tropes: found-family, survival
Setting: Haiti, Port-au-Prince
Period: 2010
337 pages · Paperback · GARDNERS VI BOOKS AMS006
Content warnings: death, violence