Hello Beautiful People,
Earlier this year, we reviewed Anna Shinoda’s first novel, Learning not to drown.
It’s exquisite.
EXQUISITE.
My personal review can be found here. AND, Anna was so gracious, and participated in one of our Author Q&A Series, which can be found for your reading pleasure right here.
The ‘official’ book blurb is thus –
There is a pecking order to every family. Seventeen-year old Clare is the overprotected baby; Peter is the typical, rebellious middle child; and Luke is the-can’t-do wrong favorite. To their mother, they are a normal, happy family. And then there are the roles we give ourselves. Clare: the ambitious striver; Peter: the angry ticking time bomb; and Luke: a drug addicted, convicted felon who has been in and out of jail for as long as Clare can remember. To Clare, they are a family on the verge of disaster.
Clare has long refused to believe her brother is truly bad…he dotes her, doesn’t he? But as Clare starts piecing together the truth about her brother’s stints in jail, it starts changing the way she thinks about him. It has also changes the way the community views the family. The only thing it hasn’t changed is the way their mother feels about Luke. Each time she welcomes him home with open arms and brushes off his crimes as “wrong place and wrong time,” Clare can feel a little piece of her happy home life being taken away. And when her mother does the unthinkable—takes Clare’s hard-earned college savings to post bail for Luke’s latest transgression—Clare has to decide if sticking up for herself and her future means selfishly turning her back on family…or if it’s the only way to keep herself from drowning along with them.
Debut novelist Anna Shinoda’s raw, gritty, powerful novel cuts right to the bone and brings to life the skeletons the lurk in the closet.
What you need to know is thus –
It’s exquisite.
Oh, did I say that already?
Well, it’s true!
I’m confident that this is a book that will inspire teenagers and young adults going through the darkest of times. I’m confident this will give a source of strength and solace to parents who are at a crossroads of uncertainty.
Get your hands on a copy right here.
Merry Christmas!
Live, Love, Learn,
Just a gentle reminder – be sure to follow us on twitter at @TheWriteTeach, and instagram at @TheWriteTeachers. Use the hashtag #12DaysofBooks so we can see you reading along! AND, even more exciting is that this year, for the first time ever, The Write Teacher(s) is hosting the very first Ugly Christmas Sweater Soiree, (in association with yours truly) and I hope to see you there! The concert is at Don’t Tell Mama NYC, December 19th, 7:30pm. You can find all the details here. It’ll be fun, it’ll be jolly, and a portion of the proceeds will go to benefit The Robinhood Foundation.