DALLAS and BOULDER, Colo., Oct. 21, 2003 (PRIMEZONE) -- Growing up isn't what it used to be. Recent studies show that the life of an average teenager is becoming increasingly more stressful, with pressures to succeed from parents and from media and peers to experiment and explore urges. Phillip Benningfield takes readers inside the life of a modern teenager and his friends as they navigate a world of sex, drugs and school demands in the new novel, The Cry of Them (now available through 1stBooks).
Michael Tanner is a normal Dallas teenager. At 16, he feels that he's immortal; he's confident, obnoxious, virile, witty and stubborn. The pressures he receives at home to get good grades and always succeed seep into his susceptible mind. Michael and his mother are constantly at odds over his curfew. She wonders what he is doing when he is out late. Inside his hidden world is a mix of booze, sex and drugs. While his parents want him to start looking for colleges, Michael ponders how to gain access to his best friend Neil's plethora of drugs and daydreams about sexual romps with his girlfriend, Tracy.
A previous suicide the semester before offers a new line of thinking to these overstressed and intoxicated kids. When Michael finds Neil dead, he and Tracy initially have no response except to take Neil's discarded drugs and ease their pain. Soon, however, they are forced to face their fears before it is too late. However, Michael has been consumed by thoughts of suicide. Can he surface before he drowns in his own confusion?
Powerful and brutally honest, The Cry of Them offers a real portrayal of what it is like to grow up in modern America in the vein of Kids, Better Luck Tomorrow and Thirteen.
Benningfield is the author of Colorado Bouldering and Colorado Bouldering 2 (Sharp End Publishing), as well as a poetry chapbook titled From Darkness to Light. He has edited and written numerous articles for an array of magazines and online sites. He currently lives in Boulder, Colo.
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