Blake Nelson

Through assignments for English class, seventeen-year-old James Hoff rants against consumerism and his classmates' apathy, puzzles over his feelings for his ex-girlfriend, and expresses disdain for his emotionally-distant parents.

To avoid his alcoholic mother's problems, Nick, seventeen, stays with his aunt's family near the Oregon coast, where he works at his uncle's car wash and falls into a complicated relationship. Nick's mom is a distinguished professor, a bestselling author... and a serious alcoholic. To get a break from his stressful home life before senior year, he heads for a summer in Seaside, Oregon, a sleepy beach town where he can chill out, meet girls, and work...

Robert "Cali" Callahan, seventeen, gets swept up into the private-investigator business and must deal with the ramifications of looking for fellow runaways who may not want to be found--and with falling in love with one of them.

When Pete, a talented bass player, moves from playing in the high school jazz band to playing in a popular rock group, he finds the experience exhilarating even as his new fame jeopardizes his relationship with girlfriend Margaret.

Paranoid Park is directed by Gus Van Sant (last Days, Good Will Hunting) and is an adaptation of Blake Nelson's novel. Paranoid Park follows 16 year old skateboarder Alex, who accidently kills a secrity guard outside Paranoid Park, Portland's most infamous skateboarding park. When a police detective arrives at the local high school to ask Alex and his friends if they have any information about the death, Alex decides to say nothing, taking on a crushing...

After a young skateboarder accidentally kills a security guard in self-defense with his skateboard at Paranoid Park, he falls into a world of crime, guilt, and fear. He desperately attempts to get out as the investigation into the crime deepens.