Last chance Joey by Meredith Resce

Joey Walton is a surly 17yr old city boy and his mum has had enough of his disrespect and addiction to video gaming. He disrupts every class in every school he’s ever been expelled from and we learn he’s been hanging out with two deliquents, Jerome and Damo. He's an accessory, doing nothing to stop their crimes.

Aunty Belle, a social worker, intervenes arriving to take him back to her small town a half day’s drive from the city, where there’s no crime and only intermittent internet access to WiFi.

The next day, Joey's new purpose is revealed and Aunty Belle takes Joey to meet Harry, an 85yr old recluse who is recovering from an accident. Harry badly needs help around his house and farm. Joey discovers he has an affinity with farm work, chickens, horses and practical problem solving and he doesn’t miss the city at all. His care of Harry and his hard work restores his self-respect and it isn’t long before Harry is paying him a small wage and helping him to obtain his learner’s permit. Emily (a neighbour’s daughter), Auntie Bell, Harry and Arjun from his footy team, team up to tutor Joey so he can pass his high school certificate, where he excels in Ag Science.

Joey starts reflecting on his treatment of his mum but the road to redemption is not smooth. A spate of break-ins and Joey is automatically the prime suspect with the whole town against him except for his close circle of friends. Who did the jobs if not Joey? Could Jerome have tracked him down? Could Coach Sander’s son Robby be framing him as a rival for Emily’s affection. Coach Sanders kicks Joey off the football team without proof but can Aunty Bell and Harry make it right?  Or is Joey the only one who can do that by owning that he is largely to blame for his rotten reputation.

Meredith Resce is known for her many Christian Romance novels. But this is her first YA novel drawing out the hidden character of a wayward but unfathered youth, searching for his identity. Harry is unwaving in his tradition of saying Grace before meals, but we are not sermonized. Rather we witness only the love and support of good family and friends,  praising and encouraging Joey's many strengths like persistence and gratitude. Resce has the Bildungsroman formula down pat and we sense that this won’t be her last cautionary tale for young adults.  219p

Themes: Bildungsroman, family, crime, dyslexia, teenagers, hoodlums, farm animals.

Deborah Robins