Barrie Wade knows about what happens when your parents stop talking to each other, about what it feels like when someone dies, about the inaccessible mystery of the multiplication tables, about how you get by when your Dad can't find work, about the fears and joys, tribulations and defeats of the early teen years. His sympathetic and often humorous poems look at what life is really like in and out of school, and reach into the secret heart of the "almost adult.""Wade is a true poet; his deftly chosen words cut to meaning's heart; their intriguing melodies contribute to sense as well as sound." -- Kirkus Reviews about Barrie Wade's Conkers