America

Rating:
Summary: Good in its own right
Review: I read this book before reading Smith's other book, Life is Funny, which is very different. This book is the first person account of a boy named America. In the beginning, he is in a mental hospital and chapter by chapter his story unfolds. Alternating chapters are titled "Then" and "Now" and I had no difficulty following the story which describes his past as it continues with his present situation until the two meet. The chapters about the past add meaning to the present. Smith's writing in the voice of this character, who has suffered neglect and abuse, is direct and simple without being sentimental at all. I felt such compassion, understanding, and hope for him. Read this book but don't expect it to be the same as "Life is Beautiful".

Rating:
Summary: Sophomore effort from E.R. Frank an insight into foster care
Review: I was introduced to the works of E.R. Frank when I read "Life is Funny" for a literature class. I liked the fresh, real voices of the various narrators and the different ethnic backgrounds of the characters, also the followups viewed from different perspectives.

When I saw that E.R. Frank had a new book out I rushed to read it. America's thoughts constantly shift between "then" and "now," so following the story and America's mindset quickly became difficult for me. His thoughts fly in all directions at once; his memories come back in flashes, then just as quickly we are returned to the present. America is a boy who admits that he was lost in the foster care system. His drug-addled mother kidnaps him from his foster mother, leaving him alone in an apartment with his two brothers without food, love, or supervision. For America it's all downhill from there--he turns to a life of crime hoping that his mother will return him to kindly old Mrs. Harper. He does get back "home," but with unforeseen results: he is sexually abused by Mrs. Harper's half-brother, and plans a drastic escape resulting in a death.

America is sent to different rehab programs and tries to commit suicide, but eventually tells the story of his past to Dr. B and slowly makes progress towards an independent life. He makes his peace with Mrs. Harper and with his guilt, along with saying goodbye to his brother Brooklyn who is at the same rehab centre. America loves to cook (Mrs. Harper taught him) and wants to become a chef once he is ready to live on his own.

Like her previous book, many of the characters attempted to narrate portions of America's life, although in third person. Perhaps it would have flowed more smoothly if the various characters were narrators of their own chapters as in "Life Is Funny."

E.R. Frank is a social worker, so she knows firsthand the difficult lives that her characters' real-life counterparts have lead. Her writing is frank and realistic. America swears frequently, including graphic sexual references, so this may not be as suitable for the classroom as "Life is Funny."

"America" is a powerful sophomore effort that reminded me of Han Nolan's "Born Blue" and "Cut" by Patricia McCormick and it does have important things to say about physical and sexual abuse, guilt, anger, finding oneself and the value of love. Frank teaches that there is hope for everyone, no matter how difficult the beginning or circumstances, and shows in America that we all belong.

Rating:
Summary: Real Life
Review: I was stunned to see the negative reviews for this book. I learned about America in an Adolescent Literature class - from the young adult librarian in our community who came to share. I could not put it down! The piece is extraordinarily well written. Yes, it is disturbing - it's supposed to be. If you think this book is over the top - it's not. Not by a long yard. It's worse in the real world. If you think that the experiences if America are out of the norm - in this too, you're mistaken.

I would have to say that this book and the reactions to it remind me of all those lovely books that have been banned over the years because we don't want to see or pay attention to subjects that are uncomfortable - but are so very real. GO ASK ALICE, CATCHER IN THE RYE, CATCH 22...and so on. Here's the big news - I would teach this book to a group of high schools students in an instant. E.R. Frank has a phenomenal gift of making paper and ink an instrument of exceptional empathy. We are lucky to have this book available to us.

I will be purchasing four copies of this book for Christmas gifts. One will be going to a social worker, one to a high school teacher, one to a district attorney working in family services in NY, and one for my 17 year old nephew. They may all say that it disturbed them. I certainly hope so. I hope that each of them is as touched by America as I was.

If there is a question why this is a young adult novel, I credit E.R. Frank for knowing that the world sometimes hears better when something is said more simply.

Rating:
Summary: America
Review: Lost. It's the word America uses to describe himself. He was "lost in the system," as he likes to say, for 15 years, abandoned by his mother and abused by a foster uncle. He drifts from foster care to a park bench to a juvenile detention facility, eventually landing in a mental hospital where he begins therapy with the calm Dr. B. A series of flashbacks takes the reader from America's childhood abuse and abandonment to the present, where Dr. B. sets out to make America see that a person is not necessarily bad at heart just because they have done bad things in the past.

Through many hours of patience and quiet questions, Dr. B. helps America to see that there have indeed been people in America's past who cared about him, whether or not he realized it. America has spent years denying that anyone could ever love him because of the bad things he's done, letting his sadness cloud thoughts of Liza, Fish, Ernie, his brother Brooklyn, and Mrs. Harper, who have all cared about America more than he cared about himself. It's not an easy journey for him, but it is a believable one.

Unlike so many other books where the main character seems too wise beyond his years, America's voice is true to the thoughts of a teenager. He never loses the foul-mouthed edge on his personality, but at the same time the reader sees his good heart. America is a jagged, beautiful story of triumph, love, and understanding in the face of neglect and depression.


Rating:
Summary: Honest and Real
Review: Realistically written, this book tells a story of a troubled teen lost in the system of mental care and more importantly lost in the world. It is with cynicism and humor that he tells us about his damaging past and the bleakness of his present. The book goes back and forth between his childhood and the present, as if the narrator is having flashbacks. The reader is taken on a journey as the character grows up, getting to know the character well and feeling for him. An interesting read for young adults, compelling and moving.

Rating:
Summary: America
Review: The story of America is a captivating story told through the eyes of America, a troubled teenage boy on teh brink of adulthood. The book's auther, E.R. Frank, depicts the life of America as a teenager with sudden flashbacks going all the way back to the main character's childhood. I read large amounts of the book nearly straight through. The book allows the reader to pay close attention to the intersting details of one boy's distressed life.
Frank's premier novel, Life is Funny, won the Teen People Book Club NEXT Award for Young Adult fiction, and the ALA also chose the novel for its 2001 Quick-Pick top ten. Frank wrote America, which Atheneum Books for Young Readers published in 2002, with high hopes of similar success.
The heartfelt story of sixteen-year-old America grabs the reader's attention within the first chapter. After a long and troubled life, therapists place America in a rehabilitation center for youths called Ridgeway. America receives a new therapist, Dr. B, who guides him through the trials of his life. Every now and then, America drifts off to the spaces of his imagination, recalling the bothered memories of his childhood. The memories he evokes helps America to grow as a person, from a disturbed teenager to a mature young adult. They allow him to travel forward in his life and let go of the terrible acts he performed growing older.
Frank writes the story of young America as a journey of trials and tribulations, which he must, in the end, overcome in order to mature as an adult. She enchants the readers' hearts as they devote their minds to learning more about the book's main character. America was an extremely enthralling novel. the voyage of America's long and trying life was heartfelt and difficult, and, as the reader, I could sense that. Reading books such as America opens up minds to completely new levels. This book allows the readers to obtain a sense of hardship which some of them have never lived through. E.R. Frank achieved a high standard of intelligence with writing this book. Anyone who reads America will perceive the emotion of the character and achieve new levels of being open-minded and positive.

Rating:
Summary: amazingly realistic
Review: This has to be one of the best books I have ever read. It's different and disturbing and I loved every page of it. This is E.R. Frank at her very best, showing the reader through her incredible writing the story of a boy named America. I read this when I was 12 so don't feel like you shouldn't read it just because you're a little younger. Read this book!

Rating:
Summary: are you too weak to handle this?
Review: This has to be the most well-written book I have ever read. This is E.R. Frank at her best, writing in a style so unique and interesting that you can't help reading this book all at once. I'm so glad someone has finally stepped out of the box and created this masterpiece. The subject is raw and harsh yes but I think we all need to be informed about it like this. How are we going to make people get up and do something about it if the topic isn't thrown in your face like that? I love this book and everyone should read it.

Rating:
Summary: America is Me by E.R.Frank
Review: This is an amazing book. I have never read anything so touching, scary, sad, or beautiful before. I would recommend this book to anyone over the age of 13. It is one of the best books I've ever read.

Rating:
Summary: I wouldn't recomemnd this book to anyone!
Review: Where do I start with this book? There is not a single person I would feel safe giving this book to. While the book was well written, it was truely disturbing. I have read a lot of young adult novels, and I have never come away from a book with such an ugly feeling before.