Hell's Hotel

by Lesley Choyce

Tara's life in Halifax is about as good as it gets--she gets top marks in her class, her parents are cool, she has a good part-time job, her boyfriend Ron edits an alternative paper. Her life is especially good compared to her friend Janet's. Janet fights with her parents whenever she sees them, which isn't often. She spends more time begging for change on the street and crashing at the dismal squat locals call Hell's Hotel. Soon, however, cracks start to appear in Tara's perfect life. When Ron writes an exposé on the kids who live at the Hotel, Tara is forced to question his motives. Things start falling apart, one by her grades slip, her friends drop her, her mom leaves town. When catastrophe hits Hell's Hotel, however, Tara and Janet find themselves relying on each other more than either expected. Together they aim to make big changes, in their city and in themselves. Set against a gritty, inner-city background, Hell's Hotel examines the challenges teenagers face every day, in their comfortable homes and on the streets. This book was originally published in 1984 as Dark End of Dream Street.

Genres: Young Adult

224 pages, Paperback

First published February 1, 2009

About the author

Lesley Choyce is a novelist and poet living at Lawrencetown Beach, Nova Scotia. He is the author of more than 80 books for adults, teens and children. He teaches in the English Department and Transition Year Program at Dalhousie University. He is a year-round surfer and founding member of the 1990s spoken word rock band, The SurfPoets. Choyce also runs Pottersfield Press, a small literary publishing house and hosted the national TV show, Off The Page, for many years. His books have been translated into Spanish, French, German and Danish and he has been awarded the Dartmouth Book Award and the Ann Connor Brimer Award.

Lesley Choyce was born in New Jersey in 1951 and moved to Canada in 1978 and became a citizen.

His YA novels concern things like skateboarding, surfing, racism, environmental issues, organ transplants, and rock bands.

Reviews

[Sinai Marron · Rating 4 out of 5]

The name of the book I’m reading is Hell’s Hotel by Lesley Choice, the book is about a girl who’s name is Tara, at first she thought she could handle anything, but then she realizes her life is falling apart. Just when she needs her friends her parents, and her boyfriend the most, they aren't there for her. So she decides to run away from home and starts living at an abandoned building called Hell’s Hotel, there she comes to understand what is it like to live without a place to call home, and how it feels to be scared and alone. I really like this book because it makes you feel as if you are part of it, it has lots of vivid imagery “Josh walked up to him and pulled the magazine out of his hand. There were three other customers in the café as well as the woman behind the counter. Everyone stopped and looked “(page 10) I give this book four out of five stars.

[Samantha · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book just wasn't worth it and I'm surprised I made it through. Instead of looking at the real reasons behind teen homelessness (abuse, drugs, mental illness and poverty) it focuses on teens fighting with their parents. Pretty sure Choyce has never done any research on street kids.

[George Ilsley · Rating 2 out of 5]

Fairly straight forward. Of all of the YA books I've read lately, this one screamed the loudest "I'm a YA book."