Random Acts of Senseless Violence by Jack Womak

Lola, a twelve year old girl, lives with her parents and her sister in New York City. Not the New York City that we know now, but one that is far too easy to imagine. Seemingly in every large city there is almost constant rioting, and the armed forces have been brought in to control the streets. Jobs are few and far between, and the United States, if not the world, is changing for the worse.

The story is told as entries in a diary. Lola gets the diary for her birthday, and we see what happens to her only through these diary entries.

Lola's father is a screen writer, but with the downfall of the economy, no one is making films anymore. Lola's mother doesn't work, and there is little or no money coming into the family. As things go downhill financially for the family, Lola's parents do the one thing they can think of to do -- they move to a less expensive, smaller, apartment south of Harlem. This doesn't solve their financial problems, but it at least helps, and when Lola's father gets a job at a bookstore, the family can come close to having enough money to survive.

But this move starts a downhill journey for Lola. She meets other girls in the neighborhood about her age. We get to know the girls as Lola does, little by little. It would be nice to be able to say that these new friends lead Lola down a path of crime leading to the end of the book, but that isn't what happens. Lola may be lead, but she quickly realizes that the money she gets helps her family live. In many ways she leads herself down the path she takes.

By the end of the book, Lola has changed, in fact, changed so dramatically that if we hadn't watched the changes happen, we'd never know it was the same person. She thinks differently and speaks differently, and her actions are no longer those of the sweet twelve year old we met at the beginning of the story.

I tend to think that Lola couldn't help but change. There is violence all around her. The armed forces killing rioters. The president of the United States is assassinated, not just once, but several times during the course of the book. The "Random Acts of Senseless Violence" doesn't refer so much to Lola and her friends, but to the world around them that is quickly becoming violent, unpredictable, and insane.

It's very difficult to recommend this book. Not because it isn't well written. It is. Not because it doesn't present a compelling and fast moving story. It does. It even manages to dramatically change the language used, but does it slowly, so slowly the reader barely recognizes what is happening. But I hesitate to recommend the book because it is simply a depressing book. She broke one final rule and it costs her friend, and if she follows the path she's on at the end of the book she won't stay alive long.

Should you read it? All I can say is I'm glad I read it, but I can't imagine reading it again.