My Books

IN THE GARAGE - RedDeer
Press.

More than anything Barbara Jean
Belanger wants the girls at school to
forget about her port stained birthmark.
She wants them to forget the fact that
she's over weight. More than anything she
wants their acceptance. But when her need
for acceptance leads her to betray her
best friend Alexander Fitzgerald -the only
person who really accepted her for her,
more than anything Barbara Jean wishes
she could change everything back.

Official Press Release

Read a bit of In the Garage

Reviews:

From CanLit for Teens

This tightly written, disturbing yet compelling teen novel portrays two lonely souls whose profound regard
for each other isn’t enough to save their friendship. Written using poetry throughout, it is a sharp read
that few will be able to put down.

Issues: peer pressure, homosexuality, violence and suicide.

Reviewed by Jen Waters. CM: Canadian Review of Materials, January, 2007 Recommended. "With its
alternating voices of male and female characters (including simple yet powerful poetic verse written in
Alex's journal), Fullerton has written a novel that will likely be well received by high school teens of both
genders."

KLIATT

FULLERTON, Alma. In the garage, a novel

Fitzhenry &Whiteside, Red Deer. 181 p. 0-88995371-0. $10.95. SA

Alex and BJ present as the most unlikely of best friends, she with a disfigured face and satiric wit, and he
with smooth good looks and an easy personality. Their friendship has survived parental abuse, hazing,
and emotional torment. Even as she acts cool under pressure, BJ longs for acceptance. Even as he exudes
confidence at school, Alex hides personal strife at home. In a quick read with heartbreaking results,
Alma Fullerton touches base with dilemmas faced by many teens today: a father with unreasonable
expectations; "friends" with hidden agendas; the true pain of realizing an attraction for the same sex; and
the tragedy of losing a best friend. Holley Wiseman, MUS, Columbus, OH

More reviews for In the Garage on Amazon.com

Ask for it at your local independant bookstore (orders go through Fitzhenry and Whiteside)
or order it here: Fitzhenry and Whiteside 1.800.387.9776

Review clips from The Critics - full reviews posted in the various review
sites, Amazon or Barnes and Noble

Children's Literature
The journal entries are filled with powerful metaphors and similes that
illustrate the tension that toils through his mind, as he thinks about the
many moments and captured times with his mother. The drama builds
to the end of the story.

From Booklist
In spare, fast-moving, very simple free verse, the teen's journal entries
evoke the boy's guilt, anger, and love. The complex, contemporary
debate is always in the background, and what the boy decides is the
climax of the story. This small book will take barely an hour to read, but
the moral issues it raises are haunting. Hazel Rochman
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Kirkus Reviews
Readers should not be fooled by the size of this little book: A huge
problem is contained therein. Throughout the story, told in a minimalist
verse with repeating symbols and motifs, the narrator tries to find his
way through this terrible thing and to make the very decision that
brought the Terri Schiavo case to light: whether or not to turn off the
machines that support a life. A real page-turner. (Fiction. YA)