• Age: 13 to 18
• Grade: 8 to 12

Getting caught is nothing new for graffiti-writer Thom, but this time it lands him in a youth detention centre. He’s offered a chance to clean his record — if he can infiltrate and inform on a group of writers known as the G7. Writing under his new identity, TNT, Thom gets the attention of the G7 … and the admiration of one of their members. Aura keeps having the dream: the one where her writer idol Story shows her The Ten — a legendary work of graffiti that holds the promise of quintessential truths. Aura’s obsession surrounding Story intensifies when a new graf bomber starts appearing over town: TNT. Not usually one for signs, Aura comes to believe that he is meant to show her the way to Tiger Mountain, the secret location of The Ten.

In her search for the truth about Story, Aura is blind to the lies surrounding TNT. And as Thom gets closer to the G7, he questions the motives of the cop who put him up to it — and his wonders whether his own motives have changed.

Christine Walde has been published for her poetry, fiction, and non-fiction. Recent publication credits include appearances in Vallum, Carousel, The Antigonish Review, Plath Profiles, Hunter & Cook, and Border Crossings, among others. Her first novel, The Candy Darlings, was published with Penguin Canada and Houghton Mifflin (2007). In September 2011, London's baseline press published her first chapbook, The Black Car. She lives in Victoria, British Columbia.

Christine Walde's profile page

• Short-listed, ReLit Award (Fiction)

“I enjoy a good mystery, and although this book isn’t part of the mystery genre, it had a really good hook … Aside from the interesting plot, the characters themselves were believable, and … likeable as well.”

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“The adrenaline rush for these [two teen protagonists] is achieved through challenging society’s rules about sex, drugs, alcohol and tagging … Walde riffs on Orwell’s classic 1984 in showing how counterculture lifestyles are an attempt to find real emotion in a society devoid of meaningful relationships.”

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