This is not a book, it is a short story. It is supposed to be about huge decisions this teen has to make and the people who help him make them. It is not really. It is ridiculously superficial. The people who are supposed to be huge in his life come and go like a breeze, and the huge decision he has to make is really only mentioned a couple of times before he does it. The book ends in a predictable "poetic" statement and then you realize that you spent maybe ten minutes on it and the story didn't affect you at all. If you want "poetry" go read a real poem, not a wannabe. I rated this one star only because I couldn't rate it zero.

A teenage boy's mother's suicide attempt has left her in a coma. He knows she wouldn't want to live like this but others, including his father, refuse to let her go.

Alma Fullerton does a good job showing how hard it is for this teen to make a very difficult decision. Would this be murder? Or freedom?

Told in free verse, the sentences are short but pack a powerful punch. You can't be help but wonder what you would do in a similar situation.

A mother on life-support. A father who keeps pretending that his wife will get better. A young man, torn between doing what is right and taking the easier path of least resistance.

Alma Fullerton paints the story of one family's turmoil in WALKING ON GLASS, a short tale told in free verse. When one teen arrives home one day in June, he finds his mother near death after an attempted suicide. Although he saves her life, the only thing keeping her tethered to this world are the wires and equipment forcing her to take each breath as she lies in a hospital bed.

"Mom's mood swings always coincided with whatever Dad and I did.
Up and down.
Up and down.
Pulling our strings, like big yo-yos.
And even now, when she can't move or talk, she's still pulling those strings."

As the teen's father lives in a world of denial, as the teen himself realizes that his best friend's life of crime and anger is beginning to rub off on him, he realizes that if there is ever to be an end to the torment he suffers, the decision will have to be his alone. As he struggles to learn why his mother wanted to die, as he rages with anger over his father's lack of acceptance, and as he faces the knowledge that life will never be the same, we fight the fight right along with him.

Ms. Fullerton has written a heartrending, emotional story that will stay with you long after you turn the last page.

Reviewed by: Jennifer Wardrip, aka "The Genius"

WALKING ON GLASS, although a short book, is a powerful and beautifully written novel that will linger in reader's mind long after the dramatic last page. This is a story about a teen walking the dangerous edge of life and death decisions. Should he join a gang? Should he pull the plug to end his mother's life? Each powerful sentence is a small piece of a puzzle that slowly unfolds.

WALKING ON GLASS is sad, bold and brilliant. It would make a great read-aloud in middle schools/high schools for discussions about gangs, friendship, families and the traumatic issue of euthanasia.

Teachers, librarians, parents, teens -- do NOT miss this amazing book!