Archive for the ‘Coming-of-Age’ Category

THE SOJOURN by Andrew Krivak

World War I was the deadliest conflict in Western history, but contemporary portrayals of war in literature and cinema primarily focus on examples of combat from the past fifty or sixty years. At a time when the Great War is receding into the annals of distant history, this elegiac and edifying novel has been released–a small, slim but powerful story of a young soldier, Josef Vinich, who hails from a disenfranchised and impoverished family in rural Austria-Hungary.

May 25, 2011 · Judi Clark · One Comment
Tags: , , , , ,  Â· Posted in: Austria, Coming-of-Age, Debut Novel, Facing History, Reading Guide, US Frontier West, World Lit

SWIM BACK TO ME by Ann Packer

Ann Packer’s newest book, SWIM BACK TO ME, is comprised of a novella and five short stories. They are all “emotionally searing stories” dealing with issues of intimacy, misunderstandings that cause distancing, betrayals, and the problems that people have with understanding and knowing one another. Each story is strong and brilliant.

May 9, 2011 · Judi Clark · No Comments
Tags: ,  Â· Posted in: California, Coming-of-Age, Literary, Reading Guide, Short Stories

MINDING BEN by Victoria Brown

MINDING BEN is a combination coming-of-age story and mainstream fiction novel. At 16, Grace Caton left her small village in Trinidad to live the American Dream in New York City. But nothing went according to plan once she set foot in the States. The cousin she expected to meet her and with whom she was to live never showed up, so Grace had to fend for herself from day one, and she learns that life in the big city is difficult, complicated, unfair and lonely. She gets a break when Sylvia, an overweight immigrant who lives in the Crown Heights section of Brooklyn offers her a place to stay, but that place to live comes with the strings of caring for kids, buying her cigarettes and lending her money.

May 2, 2011 · Judi Clark · No Comments
Posted in: Caribbean, Coming-of-Age, Contemporary, Debut Novel, New York City

THE BIRD SISTERS by Rebecca Rasmussen

Milly and Twiss are known throughout Spring Green, Wisconsin as “the bird sisters” – two elderly spinsters who minister to broken birds and make them whole again. And, in many ways, the birds are a metaphor for who they are. Early on, Milly reflects, “The smartest birds built their nests high up in the trees. Some birds, namely the wood pigeon, the clumsiest architect of all, began building their nests but never finished them.”

The sisters would fall into that latter grouping. At one point in their lives, they were eager to take wing until the summer of 1947 changed everything. Since the story is told as a flashback, we, the readers, are charged with the task of finding out how – and why.

April 13, 2011 · Judi Clark · No Comments
Tags: ,  Â· Posted in: Coming-of-Age, Contemporary, US Midwest

THE GIRL WHO FELL FROM THE SKY by Heidi W. Durrow

It amazes me that THE GIRL WHO FELL FROM THE SKY is Heidi W. Durrow’s debut novel. It is poetic, poignant, beautiful and elegiac with the panache of a seasoned writer. Once I started it, I could not stop thinking about it. It haunted my days until I finished it. Durrow has a talent that is rare and brilliant, like the northern lights.

February 11, 2011 · Judi Clark · No Comments
Tags: , , , , ,  Â· Posted in: 2011 Favorites, Bellwether, Class - Race - Gender, Coming-of-Age, Contemporary, Debut Novel, Family Matters, US Midwest, US Northwest, y Award Winning Author

SWAMPLANDIA! by Karen Russell

In her hotly-anticipated debut novel, SWAMPLANDIA!, Karen Russell returns to the mosquito-droves and muggy-haze of the Florida Everglades and the gator-themed amusement park featured in her short story, “Ava Wrestles the Alligator,” that opened her widely-praised 2006 collection, ST. LUCY’S HOME FOR GIRLS RAISED BY WOLVES. It was that collection, with its exuberant mix of satire and fabulism, that secured Russell’s reputation as one of the most exciting up-and-comers around and earned her a coveted spot on The New Yorker’s much buzzed about “20 under 40” list last fall. With her energetic prose, quirky settings, and fantastical plots, Russell is a writer’s whose style forces you to sit up and take notice, sometimes at the cost of emotional involvement with her work. However, Swamplandia!, with all its flashing-neon prose is an insightful (and surprisingly funny) exploration of the loss of innocence that inevitably follows the death of a parent.

February 2, 2011 · Judi Clark · 3 Comments
Tags: , , , , , ,  Â· Posted in: 2011 Favorites, Coming-of-Age, Contemporary, Family Matters, Florida, Humorous, Unique Narrative