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Behind the Book Reading Series Be a part of the Behind the Book Reading Series at KGB Bar on July 13, 2006 and hear what’s happening on the hot literary scene for young adults—written for teenagers, these novels by Marina Budhos, E.R. Frank, and Patty McCormick deal with themes just as resonant for adults. WHEN: Thursday, July 13, 2006, from 7:00-9:00pm. Admission Free. WHO: E. R. Frank is the author of four novels: Wrecked (Simon & Schuster, 2005), Friction (Simon & Schuster, 2003), America (Simon & Schuster, 2002), and Life Is Funny (DK Publishing, 2000), which won the Teen People Book Club NEXT Award for Young Adult Fiction and was a American Library Association Top Ten Quick Pick. In addition to being writer, E. R. Frank is also a clinical social worker and psychotherapist; she works with adults and adolescents and specializes in trauma. Patricia McCormick is a free-lance journalist and writer. She has worked for The New York Times and Parents magazine, and is a frequent contributor to The New York Times Book Review, Ladies Home Journal, Town and Country, and other publications. Ms. McCormick is also the author of three novels: Cut (Front Street, 2000), which was named an American Library Association (ALA) Best Book for Young Adults, an ALA Top Ten Quick Pick, and a New York Public Library Best Book for The Teenaged, among numerous other awards; My Brother’s Keeper (Hyperion, 2005); and Sold, forthcoming in September 2006 from Hyperion. Ms. McCormick holds a M.S. from the Columbia School of Journalism and an M.F.A. from the New School; she recently received a New York Foundation for the Arts Fellowship. REVIEWS: MARINA BUDHOS “As Budhos’s (‘House of Waiting,’ for adults)
provocative novel opens, 14-year-old narrator Nadira Hossain and her
family are heading north to Canada, seeking asylum from the harassment
that has become routine in the U.S. in the wake of 9/11….they
are turned away; their father, Abba, is placed in a U.S. jail cell
at the border, their mother remains in a shelter nearby, and the girls
return to Queens to stay with their aunt and uncle. The message drives
the story here….But the events of the novel are powerful enough
to engage readers’ attention and will make them pause to consider
the effects of a legal practice that preys on prejudice and fear.”
“Nadira’s conflicting emotions are portrayed in such
a way that even though teens might not identify with her situation,
they can easily relate to her feelings. The topics addressed in this
book are very relevant in today’s society, and teens will quickly
be able to make real world connections.” “Budhos, who has written before about immigrant teenagers,
here creates fully realized characters to help us understand the complexities
of the immigration system….This is a powerful story, especially
for those YAs who know something themselves about the immigration
situation. Budhos doesn’t make heroes of the illegal immigrants,
but she illuminates the reasons why families stay here, and she focuses
on the children who have grown up in America but who are threatened
with deportation because of the mistakes of their parents.” “Illegal immigrant sisters learn a lot about themselves when
their family faces deportation in this compelling contemporary drama….Nadira’s
need for acceptance by her family neatly parallels the family’s
desire for acceptance in their adopted country. A perceptive peek
into the lives of foreigners on the fringe.” “A thoughtful, riveting tale of post-9/11 America...Beautifully
written.” For The Professor of Light “Meggie Singh’s world revolves around her father, a brilliant
philosophy professor who fled the poverty of Guyana for the United
States, just as his father left India for work in South America. But
as Meggie grows into womanhood, she must choose between leading a
normal teenager’s life and being drawn into her father’s
increasing obsession with the nature of light, an obsession that borders
on insanity. More than a coming-of-age tale, this is a portrait of
a family in crisis….With her gentle style, Budhos (‘House
of Waiting,’ ‘Global City’) has effectively captured
both a young girl’s pain in growing up and a father’s
descent into madness.” “Adolescent Meggie Singh faces her complex personal history
as she struggles under her genius father’s demanding tutelage
in this luminous second novel by Budhos that chronicles Indo-Caribbean
displacement….Many dualities are depicted in this taut psychological
drama: England’s stoic lucidity and the dark ancestral superstition
of British Guyana, the dual nature of light as both particle and wave,
the pull of burgeoning adolescent drives disarming the objectivity
required for scientific thought, and the fine line between genius
and madness. Budhos skillfully sustains these narrative tensions without
waxing melodramatic or maudlin, and reaches a satisfying crescendo
in which Meggie must reimagine everything she knows and loves in order
to remain herself.” “To paraphrase Henry James, the complex fate of being physically
estranged from one’s homeland, while simultaneously bound to
its culture, is explored with feeling in this intense fictional portrayal
of ‘a funny, in-between family, Indian, Caribbean, English,
American’ ….Budhos (‘House of Waiting’) explores
this contradictory state fruitfully….there’s much to admire
in this intriguingly meditative novel, and satisfying closure offered
by Megan’s final realization: that [both] ‘particle and
wave, we must try to hold fast to what we are, yet travel on.’” Remix: Conversations with Immigrant Teenagers “For two-and-a-half years, Budhos interviewed immigrant teenagers
from around the country: the New York metropolitan area; Los Angeles;
Madison, WI; and Cambridge, MA. The resulting book contains 14 in-depth
profiles of older teens, most accompanied by a photograph, and 6 shorter
pieces, told solely in the immigrants’ own words….These
moving accounts tell of the young people’s changing relationships
within their own families and ethnic communities, as well as their
struggles and adjustments with peer groups at school and individuals
in the neighborhoods. They also provide insight into American teenage
culture.”
YAs won’t soon forget Anna’s moving articulations of
‘panic spreading through [her] blood, like ink in water,’
or her inability to banish flashbacks to the late-night drive that
ended, horrifically, with ‘screaming, stopped.’”
“Convincingly genuine.” “Gripping, unsettling.” “A wrenching tour de force.” “Amazing grace from E. R. Frank.” For Friction “Frank has a keen awareness of the subtle power and politics
of middle-school groups, and she weaves messages about good and bad
touching seamlessly into the text….this gripping, unsettling
novel is filled with fully realized characters who are faced with
unspeakable abuse and adult betrayals.” “Alex loves Simon, her eighth-grade teacher at her alternative
school, just as she loves soccer and her best friend, Tim. But when
a new student named Stacy arrives, everything changes. Stacy starts
rumors that Simon has a crush on Alex, and interprets every gesture
he makes as proof. Frank…conveys Alex’s confusion convincingly,
and in the end readers will sympathize with everyone involved.” For America “Frank’s (‘Life Is Funny’) well-crafted and
moving story begins with a teenage America in a treatment facility
after a suicide attempt....[a] powerful story of forgiveness both
of oneself and of others.” “At fifteen years old, America has spent much of his life lost—lost in foster homes, in his mother’s apartment (she abandons him twice), and in a detention and health system that doesn’t quite know what to do with him. America comes to the point where he seems lost himself, racially, sexually, ethically. Even when he finally finds a home where someone seems to care for him, he is betrayed, which finally leads him to murder and to a life in which he defines himself as ‘bad’ and ‘freakish’…. which leads him inexorably to a suicide attempt. The voice is original and engaging, and the narrative is riveting.
One quickly comes to feel tremendous empathy for a character who is,
in many ways, not likeable, and herein lies the skill of this author,
who can forge that union. A powerful and disturbing read, ‘America’’
not only presents a memorable character but asks questions that will
not easily go away.” For Life Is Funny “Eleven kids with distinct voices and individual struggles
narrate this impressive debut novel, yet each of the interlocking
stories springs to life with tender details.” “There’s not one false moment in this outstanding first
novel.... brutally honest characters along with strong writing and
street-smart storytelling triumph over all.” “Franks’ stories have... emotional power. This is in
part due to Franks’ uncanny gift for voice—each of her
11 storytellers sounds authentically, memorably different—but
also to the psychological complexity of her characters and her insights
into their minds and hearts.” “Eleven solo voices blend to create a choral piece of writing
that sings of coming-of-age in a multiracial Brooklyn community. Spanning
seven years, the lives of China, Keisha, Sonia, Drew, Grace, Monique,
Eric, Molly, Gingerbread, Ebony, and Linnette intersect, overlap,
and intertwine as each one struggles to find meaning in the world
around them….As their voices blend, the narrators form a frighteningly
realistic view of growing up in America. Hopeful and fresh, they reach
out to one another and into themselves to find the strength to overcome
what life has dealt them. The characters are skillfully and compassionately
wrought.” “First novelist Frank breaks new ground with a realistic, lyrical
novel about 11 teens in Brooklyn now. Without drowning in particulars
that will date overnight, their contemporary voices ring true. Their
talk is painful, rough, sexy, funny, fearful, furious, gentle. Each
chapter, each vignette within a chapter, builds to its own climax,
and the stories weave together to surprise you.” REVIEWS: PATRICIA MCCORMICK “Lakshmi is thirteen when she is sold by her stepfather to cover his gambling debts. From her small Himalayan village, she is taken to the big city in India and imprisoned in a brothel run by a cruel woman. But Lakshmi refuses to give up. She determines to keep track of her earnings at the brothel so that she can earn her freedom. ….Despite the sorrowful subject matter, this novel cannot be
called dark. It remains hopeful as Lakshmi learns how to get by in
the strange world of the brothel.” For My Brother’s Keeper “The author of ‘Cut’ writes a second absorbing
novel exploring the issue of an adolescent’s self-destructive
behavior. Thirteen-year-old Toby Malone, who narrates, watches in
despair as his older brother, once a star athlete, travels down a
path of ruin, becoming increasingly involved with drugs. Not wanting
to upset his recently divorced mother, who is already overwhelmed
with problems, Toby remains silent about Jake’s addiction, and
in effect becomes his brother’s ‘keeper’….Throughout
the book, McCormick honestly and dramatically expresses Toby’s
frantic desire to restore normalcy in his broken home. She credibly
develops a plot that demonstrates why playing the role of enabler
ultimately does more harm than good, and invites reflective thought
and meaningful discussion.” “One of the best things in the book is the way McCormick captures
Toby’s isolation, sadness, desperation.” “McCormick realistically portrays the tension of a disconnected
family in crisis. Toby is a likeable character, and readers are sure
to be rooting for him from the first page to the last.” “As with ‘Cut,’ McCormick has tackled a tough subject
in language teens can grasp. Toby Malone is a high school freshman
whose life is slowly unraveling. His father has left the family and
his mother is struggling to make ends meet. His older brother, Jake,
is slowly slipping into drug and alcohol abuse while his younger brother,
Eli, is bewildered by all of the sudden changes….But while his
mother deals with her depression by dating, she is oblivious to the
obvious signs of distress in her family….[T]his is a story that
will grab readers’ attention. It is written in a realistic and
engaging manner….It explores the different roles played out
by the family members and how it is impossible for one person to hold
things together, no matter how hard he tries.” For Cut “I’d never understood cutting before I read ‘Cut,’
a vivid and inspiring first novel by Patricia McCormick….’Cut’
is deft and fascinating —part psychological mystery story (what’s
eating Callie?) and part adolescent drama (will her friends help her
get better?)….The story of how Callie and some of the others
begin to get well demystifies mental illness, but doesn’t oversimplify
or sentimentalize it. To McCormick’s credit, we care –
about the girls and about their clumsy, frightened parents.” “Cut, a debut novel by Patricia McCormick, is one of the best
young-adult novels in years….’Cut’ is everything
one hoped ‘Girl, Interrupted’ might be —riveting
and hopeful, sweet, heartbreaking, with something much like a happy
ending.” “This first novel combines pathos with insight as it describes
adolescent girls being hospitalized for a variety of psychiatric disorders:
‘The place is called a residential treatment facility. It is
not called a loony bin,’ states Callie, the narrator, with characteristic
grit. Callie does not speak aloud for most of the story, but directs
her silent commentary chiefly to her therapist. Through this internalized
dialogue, readers become aware of Callie’s practice of cutting
herself and, more gradually, how her cutting is a response to the
dynamics of her damaged family. Similarly, the other girls’
problems—anorexia, overeating, substance abuse—come to
seem (both to themselves and to readers) like attempts to fight off
parental or societal obliviousness to their needs….Refusing
to sensationalize her subject matter, McCormick steers past the confines
of the problem-novel genre with her persuasive view of the teenage
experience.” “This disturbing account of a teenaged girl’s slow and
painful awakening to the reasons behind her self-mutilation makes
for compelling and enlightening reading….McCormick uses realistic
and telling details of private therapy to give the reader clues, but
no answers, to Callie’s destructive tendencies. The reader,
like Callie, must learn to see things from different perspectives....The
author’s ability to depict genuinely caring and competent physicians,
while still staying true to Callie’s distrustful point of view,
is especially noteworthy.” “Fifteen-year-old Callie is currently living at Sea Pines,
known by its ‘guests’ as Sick Minds; it’s a residential
treatment facility where she has been sent after it was discovered
that she was cutting herself….The realities of life in a psychiatric
hospital are conveyed well in this strong first novel, as well as
the stresses that led to Callie’s disorder. There are detailed
accounts of her cutting behavior, too, but they aren’t here
for shock value; rather, they contribute to the authentic feel of
the novel. Callie and the other residents, anorexics and drug users
as well as a fellow cutter, come across as believable and mostly sympathetic
characters. The glimpse of life inside a treatment center will intrigue
readers, and Callie’s neediness, her courage, and her realistically
difficult recovery will move them.” “Sea Pines, a.k.a. Sick Minds, treats teenaged girls with food-
and substance-abuse issues, and Callie, whose issue is self-mutilation.
‘Cut’ is Callie’s interior monologue that alternates
between her interactions with her therapist and her interactions with
the other residents, the staff, and her family….First-timer
McCormick tackles a side of mental illness that is rarely seen in
young-adult literature in a believable and sensitive manner. Unlike
other authors of this genre, she avoids stereotypes and blends gentle
humor with this serious topic. McCormick ultimately portrays Callie
as a normal teenager who yearns for a stable family structure and
friends, and who also has a psychological problem. A thoughtful look
at teenage mental illness and recovery.” "‘Cut’ is a powerful first novel. McCormick has
a gift for description and internal dialogue, placing the reader right
inside Callie’s head. The scenes are set so perfectly with detail
and observation that there are times when one feels as confused, despondent
and desperate as Callie does."
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