Paranoid Park's protagonist is an unnamed skater dude who is accidentally involved in a murder. Like Nelson's previous book, Girl, Paranoid Park is told in first person narrative. This is supposed to be the written confession of the main character.

The narrator of Paranoid Park deals with common teenage themes such as feelings of isolation from his recently divorced parents, sexual pressure and awakening, as well as trying to fit in with the other skaters at school. The narrator seems like a loner. This may be due to his increasing paranoia as the story progresses.

Overall, I found this story unsatisfying. There is no real conclusion and the reader doesn't get to see the narrator evolve much in the final chapters.

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Reviewed by Sally Kruger, aka "Readingjunky" for TeensReadToo.com

If you dare visit Paranoid Park in Portland, Oregon, you will find the Streeters and the Preps. In Blake Nelson's new novel, PARANOID PARK, the reader enters the dark side of the skate park world along with the main character, who happens to be one of the Preps.

Paranoid Park is the nickname for an old skate park being used by the less desirable Streeters. While visiting the park, the main character is dared to jump a train car with one of the Streeters. When they are discovered by a security guard, an unfortunate "accident" causes the horrific death of the guard. The Streeter takes off, leaving the Prep with the guard's remains and the decision of what to do next.

What should he do? Tell the police, tell his parents, tell a friend? He decides to keep the truth to himself, but mixed in with his parents' impending divorce, his girlfriend issues, plus school and grades, he may have more than he can deal with.

Nelson's PARANOID PARK is described as a psychological thriller, and I couldn't agree more. If you are a fan of getting into the mind of the characters, this is just the book for you. With its attention-grabbing title and its cool skateboard cover, it will be flying off young adult shelves.

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