• Age: 13 to 18
• Grade: 7,9

When three teenage friends oppose the annexation of their favourite beach by a prominent businessman and philanthropist, their efforts to keep it public are rebuffed or ignored. Their actions quickly move beyond conventional protest, despite the wa ings of an adult friend, the gentle, enigmatic Dexter Lully. As the friends, frustrated and desperate, are driven towards the dark, morally ambiguous world of direct action, one embraces it, one is thrust into it, and one teeters on the brink, appalled at the widening rift he sees separating his friends from him, and from society, for ever.

A former elementary school principal, school district consultant, teacher and journalist, in England, Newfoundland, and New Brunswick, Robert Rayner now spends his time writing and teaching music. He is the author of three adult novels, nine young adult novels, and three teen novels. His stories have been shortlisted for the Ann Connor Brimer Children’s Literature Prize and (four times) for the Hackmatack Children’s Choice Book Award, and five of them have been included in the Canadian Children’s Book Centre annual ‘Best Books’ list. He lives on the Magaguadavic River in St. George, New Brunswick.

Robert Rayner's profile page

"This is a good story for young adults: astute, contemporary and engaging." - Joan Sullivan, The Telegram

“Footprints is an excellent, character-driven short novel for young adults; it’s relevant and contemporary." - Darrell Squires, The Western Star