Hothouse by Chris Lynch

Hothouse by Chris Lynch is about Russ, a high school student who has just suffered a terrible loss: his father, and the father of his best friend DJ, have died fighting a fire. The entire small town is celebrating these two men as heroes, which trickles down to the two boys. It's almost as if they are celebrities. That is, until some terrible news comes out of the investigator's report about the fire. Suddenly, Russ and DJ not only have to deal with the loss of their fathers and their own heroes, but also the wrath of the town who only days before had celebrated their existence.

This was a very interesting and sad story. I really liked the way the author showed how much people want to believe in heroes, but also how quick they are to tear them down. The story stayed very true to life, rather than true to traditional "happily ever after", feel-good fiction. This book is for more mature readers due to language and some content.