Reviews

“Gupta evokes the time and place with sharp details and plenty of wit. . . An immersive teen adventure as big and eclectic as a Staten Island landfill.”

— Kirkus Review (“GET IT”)

“Garbage Town abounds with sharp dialogue, striking period detail, strong pacing, and heaps of heart . . . Period references will ping millennial nostalgia radars, but they never feel belabored. This work pulses with charm, suspense, and strong local color.”

— Publishers Weekly BookLife (“EDITOR’S PICK”)

“Original, compelling, emotionally engaging, skillfully crafted, and a thoroughly entertaining read from cover to cover.”

— Midwest Book Review

"It's Stand by Me meets Mystic River... a very poignant story of society and race and family and friendship, as well as a really compelling crime novel."

— All the Books (Book Riot)

“Five Stars. Garbage Town is a coming-of-age tale flavored with mystery, adventure, and thrills. This is a story about growing up, friendships, and the hardships that many teenagers have to overcome when unwittingly thrust into the world of crime, childhood abuse, and violence. Author Ravi Gupta does a wonderful job of capturing the psyches of the young protagonist and his friends. . . . If you love coming-of-age stories, this one's a must-read!”

— Readers’ Favorite (“5 STARS”)

“Garbage Town pulls you in and doesn’t let go. Think The Goonies meets Goodfellas—this gritty, gripping novel brings 1990s Staten Island to life, where a bunch of kids stumble into secrets way bigger than they can handle. Hands down, the best novel I’ve read in years.”

— Jason Kander, New York Times bestselling author of Invisible Storm and Outside the Wire

“This may be the best telling of Staten Island since Wu Tang. Ravi shows us what the city’s sometimes forgotten borough is all about through the lens of a protagonist you really care about and a plot riddled with crime, adolescence, mobsters, loyalty, friendship, conscience — and lots and lots of garbage. This is one of those novels that sucks you in immediately and keeps you there till the final page.”

— Bradley Tusk, Author of The Fixer, Obvious in Hindsight and Vote With Your Phone

“Ravi Gupta is like the love child of S. E. Hinton and John Grisham, with a coming-of-age story about a group of misfits that's wrapped in a thriller involving corruption, sinister forces, and ordinary heroes who take extraordinary risks. Set in 1990s Staten Island, Garbage Town tests the loyalties of three teenagers who live along the muck and stink of the Fresh Kills Landfill. Nearly every adult in town has sold them out for a share of the grift that is New York City's garbage. But Gupta deftly draws young people struggling fiercely to rise above and do the right thing—even if it costs them their lives.”

—Ann Bauer, author of A Wild Ride Up the Cupboards, The Forever Marriage, and Forgiveness 4 You

“I’m Googling ‘How to buy movie rights’ RIGHT NOW. This coming-of-age mystery is so ready for the screen! So tense! So funny! And set in the only New York landmark Hollywood has overlooked: the Fresh Kills Dump on Staten Island. Like its setting, Garbage Town reeks of New York City and its secrets.”

—Lenore Skenazy, author of Free-Range Kids

“All hail Ravi Gupta, the Bard of Staten Island! In this debut novel, a gang of teenagers shows it’s possible to have pride of place, even though their neighborhood is literally a dump. A fast-paced adventure with a big heart, Garbage Town is ruled by a high-school hustler who loves his mother, written by an author who treasures the back alleys and trash heaps of his hometown.”

—Mary Kay Zuravleff, author of American Ending