Someone to run with (David Grossman)

If you've never been to Jerusalem, embark on this trip with Dinka the dog.
There'll be no tourist-like hanging around, just follow her through streets and squares and smells from cafes and you'll get to see a city you've never heard of in the news.

Assaf is a young, clumsy boy who follows Dinka; Dinka follows Tamar; Tamar has given up her hair and identity to save her brother Shai, heroin-addict and guitar genius, whom she follows into the depths of hell.
Assaf and Tamar face life without much thinking, as lonely shy brave as teenagers are: life's emergencies turn them into spies, hunters, healers.
The story is well-built and has rhythm, but the most surprising tract is the way Grossman portrays the thoughts and ways of his young charachters.

This delicate, beautiful story reminded me of François Truffaut's words:"what moves me more about adolescents is, that whatever they do they do it for the first time."