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Searching... McMinnville Public Library | Flinn, A. | Searching... Unknown |
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Summary
Summary
Nick has never spoken of his father's violent temper, but when Nick meets Caitlin, everything changes. This critically acclaimed first novel offers an honest and fresh look into the mind of the abused--and abuser.
Author Notes
Alex Flinn was born in Glen Cove, New York. Before going to law school, she received a degree in vocal performance (opera) from the University of Miami. She practiced law for ten years before becoming a full-time author. She based her first book, Breathing Underwater, on her experiences interning with the State Attorney's Office and volunteering with battered women. Breathing Underwater, which is about dating violence, won the Maryland Black-Eyed Susan Award in 2004. She has written several books including Diva, Nothing to Lose, Fade to Black, and A Kiss in Time. Her current title Beastly has been published in three editions and made Publishers Weekly best seller list.
(Bowker Author Biography)
Reviews (5)
School Library Journal Review
Gr 9 Up-Key Biscayne High School and south Florida environs provide the affluent setting in which sophomore Nick and his friends carouse. Nick is rich, good looking, an athlete, a talented poet, in love with beautiful Caitlin-and he is an insecure, manipulative individual being raised by a violent and abusive father. The story opens as Caitlin is awarded the protection of a restraining order against Nick, and the plot unfolds along two streams. Regular font is "real time"-January 5th through September 2nd-while the "handwritten" font flashes back to reveal the stages by which Nick's first love twists inexorably into abuse. His former friends turn against him, he attends court-ordered group counseling sessions with a bunch of abusers he sees as losers, and his dad still beats him. The one member of the group he bonds with, Leo, withdraws when he is able to talk his girlfriend into dropping her charges. Nick gradually begins to perceive the vile depths to which he had fallen by observing Leo's obsessive behavior toward Neysa, which culminates when Leo murders her and commits suicide. Nick learns important lessons about being a man, responsibility, self-control, and trust. He successfully confronts his father and, in the final journal entry, begins his junior year by reestablishing contact with his former best friend. An open and honest portrayal of an all-too-common problem.-Joel Shoemaker, Southeast Junior High School, Iowa City, IA (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Publisher's Weekly Review
Omnibus paperback editions combine two Chrestomanci novels in each volume: Charmed Life and The Lives of Christopher Chant make up The Chronicles of Chrestomanci: Volume I; Volume II has The Magicians of Caprona and Witch Week. (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Horn Book Review
Attending a court-ordered family violence program after hitting his girlfriend, Nick recalls, through journal entries, how his escalating need for control ruined his relationship with Caitlin. Nick's excessively macho narrative is better at capturing the smaller moments of verbal cruelty than the more outsized scenes of rage. The tone is sometimes heavy-handed, but presenting the story from the perspective of the abuser is intriguing. From HORN BOOK Fall 2001, (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus Review
Nick Andreas16, rich, smart, popular seems to have a perfect life, and when beautiful, talented Caitlin becomes his girlfriend, it looks to outsiders as though it can't get any better. After beating up Caitlin, however, Nick receives a restraining order to stay away from her and is sentenced to complete a family violence program, as well as to keep a journal that describes his relationship with her. First-novelist Flinn combines Nick's present-day life attempts to win back his former girlfriend, anger-management meetings, and struggles to maintain self-control with diary entries that reveal his controlling and abusive relationship with Caitlin, his own verbal and physical abuse by his father, and low self-esteem. With such important subject matter, particularly for young males, and research by the author, theres potential here; however, it fails to meet readers' expectations. Characters, stereotypical at times, are not fully developed, and the language is often contrived. Nick's anger appears out of nowhere when he begins to date Caitlin and subsides too quickly by the end. Although it shouldn't be used for bibliotherapy, it offers a lot to think about, and many teens will probably overlook its major flaws because of the format and real-world content. (Fiction. YA)
Booklist Review
Gr. 9-12. A diary format, an enticing locale, and the hot issue of abusive teen relationships combine in a quick and absorbing read. Key Biscayne High School sophomore Nick is rich, handsome, and a good athlete and scholar. He has finally found the girl of his dreams in Caitlin. Unfortunately, his father's physical and verbal abuse has shaped Nick's ideas of how to behave in a relationship: he bullies, tortures, and finally hits Caitlin. A restraining order and an anger management course result in the diary entries we read, with flashbacks that show how Nick got to this point. Noteworthy in this first novel is Nick's believable relationship with best friend Tom, full of awkward silences and shameful secrets. The situations and dialogue ring frighteningly true, perhaps due to the author's background as a lawyer who has tried domestic violence cases. No graphic sex, but realistic violence makes this more appropriate for high-school readers. --Debbie Carton