In this adrenalin driven
novella, Mayva tries desperately to make her way in the ever changing landscape
of adulthood. A hard enough task for many of today’s youth facing
challenges like drugs, sexuality, college tuition, grades, self-harm,
depression, and leaving home for the first time. But being from the low
rent side of town, it becomes an extremely difficult task to undertake. Growing
up on the north side of Jacksonville, Mayva learned to survive in a place where
homeless sleep on park benches, gangs control city blocks, and cops play cat and
mouse through the night with johns, hookers, and drug dealers. Mayva
finds comfort in poetry, self discovery in the pages of her diary, courage
from skateboarding, and hope in the subculture that became her family when hers
fell apart. This family of friends support her unconditionally when
the frustrations of living with alcoholic parents and their abuse became too
much. Mayva has her sights set on winning the annual summer skate jam and using
the prize money to get out of the north side and into college. But when her
world starts to spin helplessly out of control, it’s more than she can do just
to stay afloat and keep her sanity.
The Drop Off is an immediately engaging, a refreshingly vibrant
story of hope and love, with triumph in the face of darkness and hardship.
Jason E. Hodges shines a spotlight on the world of skateboarding and
subcultures and is thoughtful and compelling in his characterization. The
writing is compassionate and insightful, the characters fascinating and
entertaining and the storyline original. Lisa de Nikolits author of The Witchdoctor's Bones,
The Hungry Mirror, West of Wawa, and A Glittering Chaos
