The Packing House Back Cover Blurb

Sixteen-year-old Joel Scrivener's vicious nightmares return and force him to stop avoiding a problem he thought had to do with his parents’ divorce. Driven by an embarrassing viral video of himself in study hall where he fell asleep, Joel must figure out who or what is the source of his bad dreams, before his brother Jonathan joins the school crowd and leaves Joel isolated and alone.

When Joel discovers his mother gambled away the bill money, landing them in yet another school and what might as well be a meth-lab trailer park, Joel runs away. His decision to break into a school building is soon derailed when he’s caught, first by his brother, and then his mother. Running from his problems solves nothing. For Joel, it earns him a full, psychological exam.

His ally through it all is Amber Walker, childhood friend and kindred spirit, who also happens to be the only girl he’s ever loved. Amber is conflicted. A true friend would help Joel lose the bad-boy reputation he’s recently acquired. If they’re more than friends, something she has not yet admitted, Amber must sort through her true feelings for Joel.

After Joel's mother ships him off to live with his grandmother, Joel finds a way to improve his failing grades and get his life back on track through his writing. But, when a project for his grandmother leads him directly to the root cause of his nightmares, the truth it uncovers threatens to destroy everything Joel desperately strives to overcome.