My name is Dawn.
          I’m thirteen years old.
          My name is Dawn.
          I don’t want to think about it.
          But every day it hurts more and more and the cave in my head gets smaller and smaller and the cave in my head gets darker and darker and the cave in my head gets colder and colder and if I don’t get out of it soon, I think this cave is going to kill me.
          Dawn is a daughter.
          Dawn is a sex thing.
          My name is Dawn.
          I’m thirteen years old.
          God help me.

Dawn isn’t sure she really wants God to help her at all. In fact, she doubts that God even exists --- and if He does, He better watch out. Dawn has plans to kill Him. She wasn’t always like this, however. Life used to be simpler. 

Most of Dawn’s problems began when her father decided that drinking, drugs and shady deals were the way to go. He claimed to have found God along the way, but his disappearance left her and her mother broken and unhinged. Dawn’s mother spends her time in front of the television, drink in hand and a bottle of prescriptions not far away. The only thing keeping Dawn and her mother stable is the green duffel bag of money hidden away beneath the floorboards --- a rare gift left by Dawn’s father.

Days pass by with no change until the two most popular girls in Dawn’s class, Taylor and Mel, decide to “befriend” Dawn and invite themselves over. Dawn is unsure what to think of this unwarranted attention. She introduces them to her dachshunds, Jesus and Mary (named after her favorite band), and attempts to understand why she is suddenly so interesting to this pair of girls. 

Their next visit only brings trouble. Taylor and Mel show up with cigarettes, alcohol and the need to perform a makeover on Dawn. As the night slowly spirals out of control, Dawn is forced to confront a mixture of dark, hidden feelings. Taylor is strangely focused on revealing her father’s mysterious past, which may or may not have anything to do with an incident that remains deeply buried inside Dawn. Confusion begins creeping in on all sides, and this time she may not be able to tuck everything away and pretend it’s okay.

Deep, complex issues are at the root of DAWN, and Kevin Brooks attempts to tackle them all within 250 pages. While the reader will no doubt be swept up with the main character and her secrets, a lot of storylines go unexplored. Instead of trying to pack everything into one novel, I wish Brooks had focused on just one aspect of Dawn. There are a lot of questions left unanswered with little chance to make sense of them all. Still, there are readers out there who may be able to relate with DAWN, and for that it’s worth adding the book to your list.