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Type of bind: Paperback
EAN num: 9780060517526
ISBN number: 0060517522
Label: HarperTeen
Manufacturer: HarperTeen
Quantity: 1
Page Count: 304
Printing Date: April 01, 2005
Publishing house: HarperTeen
Age index: Young Adult
Release Date: April 12, 2005
Sale Popularity Level: 316967
Studio: HarperTeen
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Product Description:
A year ago, Michael Daye escaped his violent home life by joining a traveling fair. Now his mother is on trial for murdering his brutal stepfather and only Michael knows the truth that can save her. But if he reveals the truth about his past, will he give up his newfound freedom forever? A fresh, unflinching look at domestic violence from the acclaimed author of Breathing Underwater.
o Alex Flinn's very first novel, Breathing Underwater, received rave reviews and numerous honors, including a Publishing houses Weekly Flying Start. In a starred review, Kirkus called Nothing to Lose 'arresting,' and said, 'As she did in Breathing Underwater, Flinn does a masterful job of exploring domestic violence.'
o During her career as a lawyer, Flinn dealt with domestic abuse. She brings an objective yet insider view to this topic, and has gained a reputation as an author who can write gripping, honest fiction.
o This powerful, character–driven novel will appeal to adults and teens across the board who simply enjoy fine fiction.
Ages 13+
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Rated by buyers 
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This book is wonderfully expressed. It tells about the challenges of abusive relationships and their effects on their family members. Even though it is based on a true story, don't be deceived. This book has tons of drama, action, and some romance. I think it is a must read book!
Rated by buyers -
Nothing to Lose is an incredibly heart-wrenching book because of the very strong story and believable protagonist, but also because of the all-too-true story of abuse that could have been ripped from the headlines of any newspaper across the world. Michael Daye has been on the run for a year, traveling with a carnival, but now he's back in his hometown of Miami, hoping not to be recognized for who he really is: the son of Lisa Monroe, currently on trial for the murder of her husband.
Walker, Michael's now-dead stepfather, was a horribly abusive man. As the book unfolds and every other chapter takes you back a year to when the trouble very first really started (though I suppose you could argue it really started when Lisa very first began dating Walker), you see that Michael did everything within his power to get his mother to leave. But, like many abused women, she didn't feel capable of it and stayed.
For the very first time, he felt like he had an option other than just watching his mother get beaten by Walker. Kirstie, a carny, makes him realize that sometimes there really is nothing you can do. People have to want to help themselves. Michael finally gave up completely after `outing' Walker to an Emergency Room nurse and having his mother once again deny the abuse. He decided to leave everything behind and create a new life with Kirstie and the carnies.
But what really happened the night Walker died? Can Michael help his mother now? Will she accept his help or will her guilt hold her back? There are many questions and Alex Flinn masterfully twines everything together to come up with an effective and engrossing ending (though some may guess the truth early on, it is so well done you won't mind at all).
I recommend this book for readers aged 12 and up. There are some sexual situations (none graphic and none gratuitous) and some painful abuse/fighting scenes, so do keep that in mind. What I'd really like to do is recommend this to women suffering under domestic violence. This book very clearly shows how abuse challenges and changes every member of the household.
If you or someone you love is in such a situation - don't hesitate. Get help. Your local phone book will have listings for local organizations and the Internet also offers help. Just search for "domestic violence" or similar terms.
Kimberly Pauley, YA Books Goddess @ YABooksCentral.com
Rated by buyers -
"At some point, when you give up everything, there is nothing left to worry about."
Most carny's lives model this quote, as does Kristie's, one of the main characters who has been in this carnival tour for years. They have nothing to lose. As for Michael, also a main character, who ran away from his troubled homelife to join Kristie in the tour, he's already lost. He's hiding from a secret past only to see it resurface to face him head-on with the world now watching.
This is a great book with even better morals. I reccommend reading Nothing To Lose for adventure, mystery, romance, and a twist ending. It leaves you asking questions throughout the entire book; and thereon after.
Rated by buyers -
Nothing to lose is a great book. This book is about a family that's dad left them when the boy (Michael) was young. Michaels mom re maired later to a man named walker. It turns out to be abusive. Michael could not stand walker abusing his mom. Walker was killed and Michael ran away with the curious. One year later Michael came back. He wanted to help his mom out in the murder trial...
Michael and his friend when to the carnival and Michael meat Kristy the "the whack amole girl", they became very good friends. Another one of my favorite parts is when Michael gets to talk to Kristy after a very long time. Kristy helps Michael through a hard decision. Last but not least Michaels was a great football player. But when he ran away he had to quit it. Then when all this was over he went back to school and made the team.
I loved this book; it was a great murder mystery. I think that most people would love it to. I can't think of anything that I did not like this book. But I just gave you three reasons why I did. But there are so many more reasons to love this book.
Rated by buyers -
This story is structured well, told in alternating passages from the present time and from the events of a year ago in narrator Michael's life. The two time periods converge beautifully at the end, as we learn the whole story about the night that Michael's abuse stepfather was murdered in his house. The end is slightly predictable, but the journey is still enjoyable, as Michael deals with anger, guilt, choices between right and wrong, and a basic struggle to survive.
This book has a good male protagonist, and it should appeal to teen readers of both genders. Michael is a tough guy, a football player, who realizes he has no true friends to confide in about the hell that his homelife is. He makes an unlikely friend throughout the course of the book, and there's a good lesson about finding your true friends in here.
Breathing Underwater is an earlier, and even better, YA novel from Flinn that comes highly recommended.
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