Product Description

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1304546 in Books
• Published on: 2004-05-01
• Original language: English
• Dimensions: .85" h x 5.50" w x 8.26" l, .60 pounds
• Binding: Paperback
• 320 pages

From School Library Journal
Grade 7 Up–Abby's mother is acting decidedly strange–skinny-dipping in the neighbor's pool at night, smashing bathroom mirrors, not taking care of herself or her family–but the teen is reluctant to discuss her concerns with her father. The woman's bizarre behavior escalates until, after an attempted suicide, she is institutionalized for an extended period. In her absence, the household rules begin to slip and Abby is confused as to what is expected of her. When her mother finally returns home, she is a different person and Abby desperately wants her "real" mother back. Now 14, Abby starts dating a boy of whom her mother doesn't approve, sneaks out at night to meet him, and has sex. Meanwhile, her mother commits suicide. Told from Abby's point of view, the book is written in almost a stream-of-consciousness style. There is little punctuation and it is sometimes difficult to tell the difference between her thoughts and her dialogue. The novel is set in the late 1960s or early 1970s, but the only way readers can tell that is by references to the Vietnam War and some of the music that's mentioned. This sad story is truly a tragedy, not only for the mother, but also for the rest of the family members who never discuss the problem, support one another, or seek help. It may be useful as a tool for counselors working with people in a similar situation or as material for discussion.–Nancy P. Reeder, Heathwood Hall Episcopal School, Columbia, SC
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From Booklist
*Starred Review* From the moment she catches her mother skinny-dipping alone in a neighbor's pool, 13-year-old Abby senses that "something is fishy in France." As her mother Shirley's behavior becomes more erratic, Abby, her younger sister, and her father vacillate between denial and bewilderment until Shirley attempts suicide, spends a year in a mental hospital, and breaks apart again. In Abby's honest, unwavering first-person narration, Fischer wholly captures an early adolescent's voice: the staccato rhythms, run-on sentences, and made-up words (grossamundo is a favorite) as well as the fact that Abby sees clearly (certainly more clearly than her father) but doesn't always comprehend. Like Karin Cook's excellent What Girls Learn (1997), Fischer's novel describes with astonishing, visceral detail a young adult's pull between the universal struggles of adolescence and the surreal anguish of losing a parent to illness. There is the private, almost comical rage ("I'm so mad at Mom I could spit a big spitball right in her eye") and guilt: "I don't know if I want to see Mom. I am the worst daughter ever born. I feel like that girl Regan in The Exorcist." And in the "big stomach clench" and "flat lungs" that Abby feels around her mother, Fischer shows how the deepest, most terrifying truths are known before they are understood. An unforgettable debut. Gillian Engberg
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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