Patti Abbott suggested that this week the Forgotten Books gang concentrate on the theme of "Children Gone Wrong." My mind first went to old juvenile delinquent paperbacks by Hal Ellson, Albert Quand, Wenzell Brown, Harlan Ellison, and so many others, as well as the Amboy Dukes trilogy by Irving Shulman and Evan Hunter's superb collection The Jungle Kids. Sadly, my old copies of these books went walkabout long ago. Then there's William March's The Bad Seed, in which the kid did not go wrong, but was bent from the start. Another possiblity was Max Allan Collins' The Road to Perdition, but the author just released a new and expanded edition from Brash Books. (Not to sound like Kellyanne Conway, but go out and buy it now! You won't be sorry.) Let's not forget the zillion and one horror novels about evil children.
In the end, my choice for the week was clear. I had already reviewed it over three and a half years ago. So, excuse the repetition, but this one deserves another look:
http://jerryshouseofeverything.blogspot.com/2013/05/forgotten-book-bad-ronald.html
I must admit that I didn't really think of elder teens so much (Evan Hunter's LAST SUMMER would be right off my radar for this one...not that I'm much of a Hunter/McBain/Collins etc. fan to begin with). But Jack Vance and BAD RONALD seem a good choice!
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