A teen boy’s world gets turned upside-down when a zoo of exotic animals takes over his small town in this wickedly funny, heartbreakingly honest novel that’s perfect for fans of Shaun David Hutchinson.

In Makersville, Indiana, people know all about Ronney—he’s from that mixed-race family with the dad who tried to kill himself, the pill-popping mom, and the genius kid sister. If having a family like that wasn’t bad enough, the local eccentric at the edge of town decided one night to open up all the cages of his exotic zoo—lions, cheetahs, tigers—and then shoot himself dead. Go figure. Even more proof that you can’t trust adults to do the right thing.

Overnight, news crews, gun control supporters, and gun rights advocates descend on Makersville, bringing around-the-clock news coverage, rallies, and anti-rallies with them. With his parents checked out, Ronney is left tending to his sister’s mounting fears of roaming lions, stopping his best friend from going on a suburban safari, and shaking loose a lonely boy who follows Ronney wherever he goes. Can Ronney figure out a way to hold it together as all his worlds fall apart?

From acclaimed author Crystal Chan comes an incisive tale of love, loyalty, and the great leaps we take to protect the people and places we love most.

Read the first chapter (pdf)

Contact Women and Children’s First, a bookstore in Chicago. To receive a signed and/or personalized copy, you *must* note that you want a signed or personalized copy in the Comments box at checkout. Please allow an additional two weeks’ time to allow for Crystal’s schedule (when she can stop in and sign).

Reviews

“What does a runaway cheetah, a John Lennon poster, a girl named George, a pair of jeans riddled with question marks and Jello have in common? Crystal Chan’s life-affirming new novel, All That I Can Fix.” – G. Neri, Coretta Scott King honor-winning author of Yummy and Ghetto Cowboy.

Kirkus praise (starred review):

Ronney is refreshingly and defiantly multiracial (his family’s exact heritage is not specified, but he is at one point mistaken for Latino), and readers will fall hard for him in this novel that balances the heartbreak of a parent’s emotional abandonment and a child’s fear of violence with plenty of absurd, laugh-out-loud moments. A superbly entertaining read that weaves issues of mental health and gun control with adolescent angst. (Fiction. 13-18)

 

Booklist praise:

Despite Ronney’s ire, he’s a storyteller possessed with a wicked and honest sense
of humor about reality and relationships. Chan takes a measured approach to controversial topics like suicide and addiction, the news media, gun control and rights, and animal activism, most of which are relevant to today’s teens. At a time when high-school students are campaigning for change, this book is sure to be in demand.

— Jeanne Fredriksen

School Library Journal praise (starred review):

A strong choice for YA collections,  this complex selection with a variety of relatable characters in extraordinary circumstances will win over teens.

–Caitlin Wilson, Meadowdale Library, North Chesterfield, VA