Nothing

Robin Friedman

ISBN 10: 073871304X / ISBN 13: 9780738713045

Published by North Star Editions, 2008

About this Item

Sometimes trees can look healthy on the outside, but actually be dying inside. These trees fall unexpectedly during a storm. For high school senior Parker Rabinowitz, anything less than success is a failure. A dropped extracurricular, a C on a calc quiz, a non-Jewish shiksa girlfriend--one misstep, and his meticulously constructed life splinters and collapses. The countdown to HYP (Harvard, Yale, Princeton) has begun, and he will stay focused. That's why he has to keep it a secret. The pocketful of breath mints. The weird smell in the bathroom. He can't tell his achievement-obsessed father. He can't tell his hired college consultant. And he certainly can't tell Julianne, the vision of hotness he so desperately wants to love. Only Parker's little sister Danielle seems to notice that he's withering away. But the thunder of praise surrounding Parker and his accomplishments reduces her voice to broken poetry: I can't breathe when my brother's around because I feel smothered, blank and faded.

Seller Inventory # CIN073871304XVG

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Nothing
• Publisher: North Star Editions
• Publication Date: 2008
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 073871304X
• ISBN 13: 9780738713045
• Binding: Paperback
• Condition: Very Good

About this title

Synopsis

A 2009 Sydney Taylor Award Notable Books for Teens winner

Bronze Medal winner for the Young Adult Fiction category of ForeWord Magazine's Book of the Year Awards

"Sometimes trees can look healthy on the outside, but actually be dying inside. These trees fall unexpectedly during a storm."

For high school senior Parker Rabinowitz, anything less than success is a failure. A dropped extracurricular, a C on a calc quiz, a non-Jewish shiksa girlfriend―one misstep, and his meticulously constructed life splinters and collapses. The countdown to HYP (Harvard, Yale, Princeton) has begun, and he will stay focused.

That's why he has to keep it a secret. The pocketful of breath mints. The weird smell in the bathroom.

He can't tell his achievement-obsessed father. He can't tell his hired college consultant. And he certainly can't tell Julianne, the "vision of hotness" he so desperately wants to love.

Only Parker's little sister Danielle seems to notice that he's withering away. But the thunder of praise surrounding Parker and his accomplishments reduces her voice to broken poetry:

I can't breathe
when my brother's around
because I feel smothered,
blank and faded

About the Author

Robin Friedman (New Jersey) was born in Israel and came to the United States when she was five, living first in New York City adn then in New Jersey. As a child, she wrote tons of stories about talking squirrels and girls with pigtails and sold them to her guitar teacher for 50 cents. Friedman has since written three novels for young people.