The fate of so many books...out of print

Tomorrow morning I'm flying out to Sioux Falls, SD for the Midwest Conference on Deaf Education at Augustana College. During my travels, I'll be reading Kief Hillsbery's War Boy (2000). Although the book is fairly new (less than a decade old), it is already out of print. That is a sad and realistic fate of many books. They are just as mortal as we are. It is also a shame because this book has received praise from young adult readers. However, just because books are no longer being printed doesn't mean you can't still read them. I purchased the book used from Powell's but there are some available through Amazon.com. I love old books because you can often find a previous owner's name or even an inscribed message of well-wishes. This book only had a number which tells me it has probably been sitting on a shelf waiting for some like me to pick it up and buy it.

First Sentence:I'm Rad I'm deaf I don't talk I'm fourteen I'm telling the story.

From Publishers Weekly

Oregon native Hillsbery invests his insider knowledge of West Coast subcultures in his energetic debut novel. His narrator, Radboy, is a 14-year-old deaf skateboarder with serious family trouble: his father murdered his mother, got away with it and now wants to do away with his son. Radboy is rescued by his superskater friend, Jonnyboy, who's a decade older, and who inflicts maximum punishment on Radboy's dad. Soon the two escape hometown Monterey and are off to San Francisco.