Excerpt from I Am J by Cris Beam, plus links to reviews, author biography & more

At the mention of "girlfriend" the other Alchemists looked back at their work, but Jorge smirked. He was still stinging from the toiletpaper comment.  "Yeah J, you'd like that, huh? An Afghani dyke like you?"

"Fuck off," J said, but he felt a hotness behind his eyes. He grabbed his backpack and marched out the door, kicking over a trashcan as he went.

Excerpted from I Am J by Cris Beam. Copyright © 2011 by Cris Beam. Excerpted by permission of Little, Brown Books for Young Readers. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.