Hello? - Softcover

Wiemer, Liza

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1633920496 ISBN 13: 9781633920491

Publisher: Spencer Hill Contemporary, 2015

Synopsis

Tricia: A girl struggling to find her way after her beloved grandma's death.
Emerson: A guy who lives his life to fulfill promises, real and hypothetical.
Angie: A girl with secrets she can only express through poetry.
Brenda: An actress and screenplay writer afraid to confront her past.
Brian: A potter who sets aside his life for Tricia, to the detriment of both.
Linked and transformed by one phone call, Hello? weaves together these five Wisconsin teens' stories into a compelling narrative of friendship and family, loss and love, heartbreak and healing, serendipity, and ultimately hope.

Told from all five viewpoints: narration (Tricia), narration (Emerson), free verse poetry (Angie), screenplay format (Brenda), narration and drawings (Brian).

About this title

From the Author:

Liza’s a graduate of UW-Madison (Go Badgers!) with a degree in Education. Besides being a die-hard Green Bay Packers fan, she's a romantic, a bookaholic, and a lover of crazy socks and rooftops. Liza married the guy who literary swept her off her feet at a Spyro Gyra concert. She has had two adult non-fiction books published and numerous short stories and articles. She has two sons and lives in Milwaukee, WI. Find her at LizaWiemer.com and Twitter @LizaWiemer

From School Library Journal:

Gr 9 Up—Tricia is grieving her beloved grandmother's death, alienating her potter boyfriend Brian, and contemplating suicide. She makes a telephone call to her grandmother's old number and unexpectedly bonds with Emerson, a young man with a restless girlfriend, Angie. This call forever alters the course of their intertwined lives in the Washington Island and Sturgeon Bay sections of Wisconsin. They are connected in different ways to Brenda, an aspiring actress and screenplay writer haunted by a traumatic event from her past. Wiemer's debut is smart and character-driven. The five protagonists have distinct viewpoints and share them via different narrative styles: Tricia (prose), Brian (prose and drawings), Emerson (prose), Angie (free verse poetry), and Brenda (screenplay format). They are depicted as real teens living life on their own terms, making mistakes and learning and growing from them. Readers will appreciate literary references to Ralph Waldo Emerson, the 19th-century transcendentalist essayist and poet whom Emerson is named after. Chapters open with Emerson quotes. Savvy popular culture fans will savor references to everything from Frank Sinatra's signature songs to Led Zeppelin to films like Psycho and 500 Days of Summer. The author successfully ties these threads together without weighing down the narrative. VERDICT Recommended for readers who enjoy quirky coming-of-age stories and believe in the human connection.—Donald Peebles, New York Black Librarians Caucus

About this edition

• Publisher: Spencer Hill Contemporary
• Publication date: 2015
• ISBN 10: 1633920496
• ISBN 13: 9781633920491
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 428