I had always been an excellent daydreamer. Though not a word person by instinct, I did have a connection to the world of storytelling. No longer able to dance and choreograph but still pregnant with creative energy, words became my new, untrained limbs. A former professional ballet dancer and choreographer, Dede Crane has studied Buddhist psychology and psychokinetics at Naropa Institute in Colorado and the Body-Mind Institute in Amherst, Massachusetts. She is currently working on a second teen novel, Poster Boy. Her first published story, “Seers,” appeared in Grain magazine and was short listed for the CBC Literary Award she has since been published in numerous literary journals.ĭede has also co-edited, with author Lisa Moore, a collection of non-fiction stories about the experience of giving birth. She has also published the teen novel, The 25 Pains of Kennedy Baines. What will Gray do next? Dede Crane’s acute observation of teen bravado, vulnerability, humor, and self-righteousness, coupled with a serious theme handled with sensitivity and directness, makes Poster Boy an unforgettable read.ĭede Crane is the author of the literary novel Sympathy, which was a finalist for the Victoria Butler Book Prize. When his research indicates silkscreen chemicals may have caused the cancer, his mother’s subsequent breakdown and his father’s anger drive him to quit school and seek haven at an organic farm run by an older couple. Eventually Gray’s obsessive campaign alienates his friends. While his mother joins his crusade, Gray’s father, to his son’s disgust, only wants to celebrate what’s left of his daughter’s life. When he learns the cancer may have environmental origins, Gray sets out to investigate and make Maggie better. Then Gray’s 12-year-old science-nerd sister, Maggie, contracts a rare form of cancer. A part-time job at the Cineplex the occasional beer or joint a smart, funny best friend a hot new girlfriend - things couldn’t be better.

His easygoing parents let him entertain his friends in their basement 'sweet,' complete with TV, video games, and hot tub.

Sixteen-year-old Gray Fallon’s life is looking pretty good.

Poster Boy by Dede Crane