Breaking Point is a young adult novel by Alex Flinn.
Fifteen-year-old Paul Richmond has recently moved to Miami with his mother and his life could not get much worse. The students at his private school hate him, his mother is a nervous wreck, and his divorced dad wants nothing to do with him. Fellow student Charlie Good befriends him, claiming to have a similar life, and helps him take the pressure off of him by taking him to vandalize and commit petty crimes. However, although Paul doesn't realize it, there's more than meets the eye with Charlie...
Tropes:
- The '90s: Takes place at some point in the 90s, as dial-up internet is mentioned.
- Homeschooled Kids: Paul's mother homeschooled him starting in second grade when he and his family had to move again, only coming back to regular school for his sophomore year after his parents' divorce.
- In Medias Res: The book opens with Paul being released from juvenile hall at the age of eighteen. The rest of the book takes place two years prior, showing how he got there in the first place.
- Karma Houdini: By the end of the book, Charlie gets away with planning to bomb his biology teacher's classroom and framing Paul for the whole thing.
- Military Brat: Prior to Paul's parents getting a divorce, the family had to move around a lot because his dad is in the army, which his mom grew tired of.
- Nervous Tics: Paul's mom has Trichotillomania due to the stress of her divorce.
- School Grade Hacking: Charlie convinces Paul to break into the school and hack into the student-record database to change his biology grade from a "D" to a "B".
