Twenty Questions for Gloria

Gr 7 Up—Gloria Jade Ellis, aka Glo-jay, is a typical British teenager at Litchbury High—she hangs out with her best friend, the pretty and popular Tierney, after school, gets hot chocolate with marshmallows at Cafe Nero, and watches rom-coms. It isn't until the mysterious new boy at school shows up that Gloria realizes how much she would like things to change. Uman Padeem, the new boy with the dress code-flaunting bangles on his wrist, posh accent, and Kerouac-quoting view of life inspires Gloria to break the school and social rules of her previously routine existence in pursuit of meaning and adventure. But Uman has secrets of his own, and Gloria will have to find out how fantasy and reality can coexist in the new life she is trying to create for herself. The novel's narrative framework takes the form of a police interview, with Gloria responding to questions with blunt responses and longer first-person chapters written in her voice that delineate her and Uman's growing relationship. The witty banter between the pair will appeal to teens who love books with quirky dialogue and zingy one-liners, which also provide a refreshing and authentic counterpoint to the darker themes that run through the story. Young fans of police procedurals will enjoy the suspenseful, rapid-fire pace, cinematic dialogue and believable characters (the adults in Gloria's life, in particular, have smaller roles but are sympathetic and true-to-life) of Bedford's latest novel.