Different Lives, by Jane Mitchell (Poolbeg £3.99)

Why do teenagers drop out of the school/university/job path laid out so painstakingly, and often painfully, by their parents? Many parents would like to know - and many teenagers as well, no doubt. There are no easy answers in Different Lives, which follows 16 year old Sarah from her comfortable middle class Dublin home to a grimy room in central London. When the going gets tough - tough as in drug dealers, knife fights and sleeping rough - she is forced to return, and Jane Mitchell handles both the exciting newness of her adventures in London and the delicacy of her subsequent relationship with her family with sensitivity and flair.