Hell's Hotel

By Lesley Choyce

2009

First Published

2.93

Average Rating

224

Number of Pages

6H50M

Audio Length

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.

Avg Rating

2.93

Number of Ratings

5 STARS

20%

4 STARS

27%

3 STARS

2 STARS

33%

1 STARS

20%

goodreads

Author

Lesley Choyce

Author · 48 books

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.