When I Was Joe Book

When Ty witnesses the knife murder of another boy he identifies some very dangerous people and the police put him and his mother into hiding in a witness protection scheme. While they are packing, a petrol bomb is thrown through the front door of their flat, highlighting the extreme danger they face. Over the coming months, Ty becomes Joe, is given a new look and starts at a new school. To his surprise, he finds he is attracting the attention of the girls in his class, and the boys find his need to conceal his real identity cool - being Joe is not so bad. His ability as a runner is spotted and he starts training under a college student, a wheelchair user who is a Paralympics contender, but this special treatment attracts resentment. Somehow Joe keeps drawing attention to himself despite his efforts to remain anonymous. Then his beloved grandmother back in London is badly injured in an attack designed to flush Ty out of hiding and demonstrates the relentless determination to silence him.
This wonderfully gripping and intelligent novel movingly depicts Ty/Joe's confusing sense of identity in extreme danger - a remarkable debut from a great new writing talent.

School Library Journal

Gr 9 Up—This book has an intriguing premise and a cast of likable and realistic characters. Ty, 13, is a socially inept teen who lives in the shadow of his charismatic but dangerous best friend. He is the only witness to a violent murder, and those involved will stop at nothing to silence him, forcing him and his mother to say good-bye to their old lives and join the witness-protection program. All of a sudden, nobody Ty becomes cool, athletic somebody Joe at his new school, but no hair dye or wardrobe change can erase the terrifying memories that haunt him. David creates a tense thriller that leads readers further into Ty's psyche, where there are many secrets hiding. At the same time Ty has become interested in girls and loves basking in the glow of his newly discovered talent at running. David handles a plot that could have been overly melodramatic with a subtle and deft hand. Especially impressive is the way she deals with Ty's many relationships. His mother is bored, misses her mother and sisters, and begins drinking; well-meaning but suspicious police officers appear often, not sure they believe Ty's story, and he has made new friends, particularly Claire. Then he is discovered and must be relocated again. The novel closes with a letter to Claire confessing a secret that will have teens clamoring to know more. Ty's story doesn't so much end as just stop, leaving readers still in the dark as to who is after the teen and whether he will survive. The book concludes with the first chapter of the sequel, Almost True.—Shari Fesko, Southfield Public Library, MI