Beautiful Boy By: David Sheff

Brendan Gallagher
8*
Mrs. Brown
4 January 2009
Beautiful boy is about the journey author David Sheff goes through with his son Nic, who is addicted to crystal meth. The story starts off with a happy setting, a good marriage, wealth, and Nic as a young boy who strives at everything he does. He was always doing well in school, hanging out with the right crowd, and well mannered. Everyone who talked to his parents brought up what an intelligent and polite young man Nic was. A turning point of this story is when Nic’s parents got a divorce. It was very hard for Nic as he spent the school year with his dad in San Francisco and Summers with his mom in Los Angeles. This is when Nic started to develop bad habits. He was first caught smoking cigarettes in the sixth grade, and smoking marijuana in the seventh grade. His father thought that this was just a one time thing and he had learned a lesson, but Nic continued this behavior to fit in. He began to listen to grunge music falling in love with Nirvana. His father, also a fan, got Nic very involved in music when he bought Nic a guitar. He believed this would keep Nic occupied and away from drugs. And it did for a while, although when Nic got accepted into a private school he was soon expelled for selling drugs on school grounds.
As Nic grows older he goes through 3 different colleges, not because of his grades, but because of his addiction to methamphetamines. His addiction grows throughout the story and his father many times wants to give up. He struggles just as much as Nic does almost as the drug is killing him. Find out the ending of this story by reading Beautiful Boy.
I would recommend this book to anyone at the high school level or above. It is an incredible story and an easy read, YOU CANT PUT THE BOOK DOWN!