Product Description

Fourteen-year-old Harley Columba is convinced she's adopted. She's nothing like her abusive, alcoholic father or her bitter, romance novel-reading mother. They have brown eyes, but Harley's eyes are blue. They argue and drink and thrive in dreary suburbia while Harley paints, writes poetry, and longs for a different family and a better life. But then she finds a new, startling piece of evidence: a harlequin doll that's been hidden away for years, with a note around its neck: "Papa loves you forever and a day." Now Harley has genuine hope--hope that she can escape the chaos of the Columba household. Hope that she can find her real father.

Tough, funny, and refreshingly honest, Harley, Like a Person is a compelling story of family, the power of creativity, and the enduring strength of self.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1225312 in Books
• Published on: 2007-02-13
• Released on: 2007-02-13
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 288 pages

From Amazon.com
"'What was your name again?'
'Harley... Harley Columba.'
'Harley. Like the motorcycle, eh?'
'No, Harley, like a person.'"

Fourteen-year-old Harley is dead sure that "drunken dragon and his fire-breathing wife" she shares a house with cannot be her real parents. And when she finds a doll with a 12-year-old note signed "Papa loves you forever and a day"--not in her father's handwriting--she knows she's on to something. Her academic and social life begins to spiral down as she pursues her genetic mystery and rebels against her restrictive parents. Soon she's alienated her best friend, hooked up with a drug-dealing crowd, and is watching her grades plummet. Only her remarkable talent as an artist (and the recognition of this ability by a few adults) keeps her from spinning completely out of control. But this Harley won't stop until she's reached her destination--or runs out of fuel trying.

Cat Bauer's powerful first novel of a defiant adolescent girl's search for identity, both creative and personal, will ring true for teenagers everywhere. She hits on all the hot topics: identity, family relationships, drug and alcohol abuse, school achievement, domestic and emotional violence, friendship, sex, and love. (Ages 12 and older) --Emilie Coulter

From School Library Journal
Grade 7-10-At 14, Harley is possessed by the idea that her verbally abusive father can't possibly be her natural parent. Growing up in a working-class New Jersey neighborhood, she has known the same people all her life, but only recently has she discovered a harlequin doll, addressed to her on her second birthday, with a note from "Papa." The handwriting isn't her dad's and that gives Harley enough reason to look for factual evidence to support her feeling of having been adopted. Told in Harley's voice, the story veers between self-centered capriciousness and bravery. The details are realistic, and Harley's search for her birth father is flawed but credible in method. Minor characters have disappointingly flat walk-on roles. Harley's siblings are barely more than names; the grandmother on whom she dotes dies offstage within pages of being introduced; the disciplinarian at Harley's school does a mean Jekyll-and-Hyde imitation without explanation; even Harley's birth father is dismissed almost as soon as she discovers his identity. This isn't a novel with literary flair but it is a well-felt story with real appeal to Harley's peers. The facts of her life, and her emotional health, are complex. Young teens seeking stories about troubled homes and strong girls who persevere in the face of unimpressive adults will not be disappointed.
Francisca Goldsmith, Berkeley Public Library, CA
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From AudioFile
Fourteen-year-old Harley Columbia is having a rough year: She's fighting with her alcoholic father, enabling mother, and best friend; her grades are spiraling; her new boyfriend is into drugs; and she has only her artistic talents as an escape. Harley is sure that the angry and abusive Roger isn't her father, and determines to find the proof that will confirm her suspicions and free her from Roger's tyranny. Carine Montbertrand's light, youthful soprano gives Harley's highly emotive narration a realism that teenagers will enjoy and adults will recognize. E.J.F. © AudioFile 2002, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine

Customer Reviews

~* hArLeY *~
I have been searching for a good book for the past two months and to my disarray have not found a one. I have tried the classics (they were too dull), i have tried the science fiction (they were too weird) and even trashy romances (UGH!). So today i went to the library and got something new, something different. It was titled Harley:Like a Person and I read it in one day, one of the best books I have ever read. So now I am in the same situation again, with no good book to read. ...

Completely Real
If you like books that will draw you into the real life of a girl on the wrong track then this is it. I read it in 2 days. When your parents lie to you your whole life about who your father is you would flip too. Harley is an artist who is in a swirl of lies and doesn't know what to do. Her friend pretty much leaves her to fend for her self and her parents act like they don't care. She meets a boy who takes her to parties and does drugs. That doesn't last long. She soon goes in search of who her real father is.
This is a great book with a twist of an ending.

What an awesome book!
It's truly hard to believe that this was Cat Bauers first book! I read this a few months after one of my friends had read it, and absolutley loved it. It was the kind of book that made you laugh and cry, and sometimes even relate to. Harley's life spirals out of control as she searches for her own identity. On her downwards fall she loses her best friend, but gains another, when she begins a new relationship with a boy. This ends up getting her into a lot of trouble with her cruel and dysfunctional parents, and Harley rebels. Will her life get any better, or will it continue its downward climb untill its too much to bare?