Forgive Me Leonard Peacock (YA)

Book #20 Read in 2014
Forgive Me, Leonard Peacock by Matthew Quick (YA)

This is a gritty, emotionally powerful young adult novel detailing the mental ramblings of Leonard Peacock, a teenager who decides to kill a classmate and then himself on his birthday as a way of putting himself out of his misery.  Leonard is highly intelligent and highly messed up.  He does try to reach out for help in his own dysfunctional way with limited success.  His parents ignore him, his classmates avoid him and he really has no connection with anyone except his Holocaust Studies teacher and his elderly neighbor. 

This book was a hard one to read and a hard one to put down.  It is a raw, inside look of a mentally ill person.  Readers will hope that Leonard is saved in time and given help.  This was my first book by Quick and I enjoyed it.