Cover Image

I am here now

by Bottner, Barbara,

Format: Print Book 2020
Availability: Available at 4 Libraries 4 of 5 copies

Available (4)
Location Collection Call #
Bridgeville Public Library New Books TEEN FIC BOT
Location  Bridgeville Public Library
 
Collection  New Books
 
Call Number  TEEN FIC BOT
 
 
Community Library of Castle Shannon Young Adult Fiction YA Fic Bottner
Location  Community Library of Castle Shannon
 
Collection  Young Adult Fiction
 
Call Number  YA Fic Bottner
 
 
Oakmont Carnegie Library Young Adult Fiction YA BOTT
Location  Oakmont Carnegie Library
 
Collection  Young Adult Fiction
 
Call Number  YA BOTT
 
 
South Fayette Township Library Young Adult YA FIC BOT
Location  South Fayette Township Library
 
Collection  Young Adult
 
Call Number  YA FIC BOT
 
 
 
Unavailable (1)
Location Collection Status
Sewickley Public Library Young Adult New Book IN TRANSIT
Location  Sewickley Public Library
 
Collection  Young Adult New Book
 
Status  IN TRANSIT
 
 

Summary
Maisie is about to turn sixteen and her grandmother and brother Davy are only sometime allies in a very tumultuous household, with an abusive mother and a cheating father. Maisie struggles with friendship, her growing sexuality, and with her future--she wants to be an artist but her mother isn't supportive. Most of all, Maisie is struggling to discover herself--who she is and what she wants. In a home that tells her she is worth nothing, Maisie uses her creativity to draw a brighter future for herself, one where she is fully realized. As heartbreaking as it is inspiring, Cellophane Girl is unafraid to show the messy parts of growing up, while revelling in the passion of young friendship, first love, sexuality, and art.
Published Reviews
Booklist Review: "Freshman Maisie Meyers is a budding Bronx artist in the early 1960s whose family includes a globe-trotting father, a physically abusive mother, and a younger brother obsessed with Gershwin. All she wants is a different life and a friend to grow up with. At school, she meets Rachel, and the two become close, especially after Maisie meets Rachel's mother, Kiki, who is an artist. But life goes from bad to worse after Maisie's father walks out and her mother spirals downward, and when Maisie falls for Rachel's boyfriend, Gino. Risking relationships with everyone in her life, Maisie learns from Kiki, stands up to her father, and bonds with her brother for the first time. Bottner's novel in verse is a vivid trip through a girl's early teen years, showing that adolescent needs and wants remain constant through the decades. Maisie is a strong narrator who rings true, especially facing the totality of her challenges. Perfect for readers who are struggling to figure out their place in the world."
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Publisher's Weekly Review: "In 1960, budding artist Maisie reflects on her tumultuous freshman year in the Bronx's Parkchester community. Maisie's home is no refuge from her noisy neighborhood--when her Hungarian-American mother isn't battling it out with her father, she is abusive, belittling Maisie and sometimes turning violent. Maisie uses drawing to escape but still feels like "one quarter of a human being,/ three-quarters longing,/ drowning in emptiness" until she meets Rachel, a girl whose home life is everything Maisie wishes hers was. In Rachel's bohemian household, Maisie finds it easy to open up to Rachel's mother, an oil painter, who quickly becomes her mentor. But as Maisie comes into herself, her attraction to Rachel's gorgeous boyfriend could ruin her newfound happiness. Best known for her picture books, Bottner (What a Cold Needs) draws on all five senses to evoke Maisie's chaotic world, using expressive verse to portray "what it's like for me," from the dark atmosphere of her home to the bright environments of Rachel's house and her mother's art studio. Though outside issues make the story line seem scattered at times, the book's subject matter and themes remain timeless. Ages 14--up. Agent: Rick Richter, Aevitas Creative Management (May)■"
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Additional Information
Subjects Dysfunctional families -- Fiction.
Child abuse -- Fiction.
Friendship -- Fiction.
Jews -- United States -- Fiction.
Hungarian Americans -- Fiction.
Abused teenagers -- Fiction.
High school students -- Fiction.
Young adult fiction.
Bronx (New York, N.Y.) -- History -- 20th century -- Fiction.
Novels in verse.
Publisher New York :2020
Edition First edition.
Language English
Description 348 pages ; 22 cm
ISBN 9781250207692
125020769X
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