Junkyard Dogs By Katherine Higgs-Coulthard

Some people dream of happily ever after, but all 17-year-old Josh Roberts wants is a roof over his head and for his little brother to be safe.

Josh’s father has gone missing without a trace. Now Josh and his 9-year-old brother, Twig, are stuck living with Gran in her trailer. Problem is, Gran didn’t ask to take care of any kids, and she’s threatening to call social services unless Josh can find his dad. After paying off Gran to take in his little brother, Josh risks truancy and getting kicked off his basketball team to take to the streets and hunt for his dad. But when Josh digs too deep, he suddenly finds himself tethered to a criminal scrapping ring that his father was accomplice to. If Josh wants to keep Twig out of the system and return to some sense of normal, he’ll have to track his dad down and demand honest answers.

Junkyard Dogs is set in South Bend, Indiana and inspired by the 2006 Manhole Murders, which made national news.

uthor of Junkyard Dogs, which Kirkus called  "A mean-streets-style tale raw in language and feeling alike . . .visceral."  Her work has appeared in Cleaver, Women on Writing, and School Library Journal. She is a former South Bend School teacher and current assistant professor of Education at Saint Mary’s College. Kat lives in Niles, Michigan.