More from Capclave and Christopher Barzak's One for Sorrow

Here's a much fuller Capclave report from one of the Guests of Honor, Jeffrey Ford. It's always a pleasure to see Jeff.

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Christopher Barzak's One for Sorrow is a touching, wonderfully written coming-of-age story that's full of depth, honesty and weirdness. Boy Scout Jamie Marks is killed before he and Adam McCormick can truly become friends, but Jamie's ghost seems willing to continue the friendship anyway. It's a friendship that weaves in and out of Adam's troubled life as an outsider, not only at school, but also in his own family.

One for Sorrow impressed me more than most novels with teenage protagonists. The Lovely Bones this is not. Not only does Barzak capture the angst and emotional roller-coaster that is the teenage life, but he also defies conventions. I seldom knew where Barzak was going with the story, but even when I did, he threw in something unexpected. It's not trickery, just the author's ability to shatter what we've normally come to expect from fiction dealing with teenagers. (And although we are dealing with teenagers, there's probably too much sex for the novel to be thought of as YA.) Some excellent writing here from a writer to keep your eye on.