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Interviews | April 16, 2012

Jill Owens: IMG Leni Zumas: The Powells.com Interview



Leni ZumasLeni Zumas's writing crackles. Her books are sharp, bleak, funny, and possibly dangerous. When her collection of short stories, Farewell Navigator,... Continue »
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The Center of Everything

by Laura Moriarty

The Center of Everything Cover

 

Synopses & Reviews

Publisher Comments:

n Laura Moriarty's extraordinary first novel, a young girl tries to make sense of an unruly world spinning around her. Growing up with a single mother who is chronically out of work and dating a married man, 10-year old Evelyn Bucknow learns early how to fend for herself. Offering an affecting portrayal of a troubled mother/daughter relationship, one in which the daughter is very often expected to play the role of the adult, the novel also gives readers a searing rendering of the claustrophobia of small town midwestern life, as seen through the eyes of a teenage girl. Evelyn must come to terms with the heartbreaking lesson of first love-that not all loves are meant to be-and determine who she is and who she wants to be. Stuck in the middle of Kansas, between best friends, and in the midst of her mother's love, Evelyn finds herself...in The Center of Everything.

Review:

"Ordinarily, I would rather live in a small Midwestern town with love or loss than read a novel about a 10-year-old girl doing so, but Moriarty pulls it off. The secret to her success is a pitch-perfect voice and unfailing restraint. She's so good at portraying the charming mixture of egotism and insecurity, humility and grandiosity that marks adolescence....By listening closely to the innocence and perception of adolescence, she's invented a moral geometry that allows her to skewer and cherish simultaneously. There's no cheating in this novel, no phony breakthrough, or precious reconciliation, just a sweet, often comic series of tender moments spun from real-life battles and moments of kindness among unsorted laundry." Ron Charles, The Christian Science Monitor (read the entire CSM review)

Review:

"This impressive debut is a marvelously satisfying story . . . Moriarty eschews tough questions . . . competing loves and loyalties of adolescence." Christina Schwartz, author of Drowning Ruth

Review:

"Deadpan and dead on, this funny, moving portrait reads like To Kill a Mockingbird updated for our time." Mark Costello, author of Big If

Review:

"A pleasantly wry, spunky debut . . . Moriarty's gutsy opener is hard not to like." Kirkus

Review:

"Intelligent and charming debut novel." Elle Magazine, July issue

Review:

"Moriarty's enchanting novel passes too quickly." Seattle Post-Intelligencer

Review:

"Realistic and familiar as a summer day in Kansas — brave and gritty, strong voiced and spare." O Magazine

Review:

"So infectious that one never wants to put it down." Library Journal

Synopsis:

In Moriarty's extraordinary first novel, a young girl tries to make sense of an unruly world spinning around her. Growing up with a single mother who is chronically out of work and dating a married man, ten-year old Evelyn Bucknow learns early how to fend for herself.

Product Details

ISBN:
9781401300319
Author:
Moriarty, Laura
Publisher:
Hyperion Books
Location:
New York
Subject:
General
Subject:
Kansas
Subject:
Girls
Subject:
Mothers and daughters
Subject:
Gifted children
Subject:
Grandmothers
Subject:
Single mothers
Subject:
Domestic fiction
Subject:
First loves
Subject:
Bildungsromans
Subject:
Literary
Subject:
Literature-A to Z
Edition Number:
1st ed.
Edition Description:
Hardcover
Series Volume:
107-484
Publication Date:
20030731
Binding:
HARDCOVER
Grade Level:
General/trade
Language:
English
Pages:
304
Dimensions:
9.25 x 6.125 in 23.12 oz
Age Level:
from 18

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Related Subjects


Fiction and Poetry » Literature » A to Z
Languages » Foreign Languages » Spanish » Fiction and Poetry » Literature » A to Z

The Center of Everything Used Hardcover
0 stars - 0 reviews
$9.95 In Stock
Product details 304 pages Hyperion Books - English 9781401300319 Reviews:
"Review" by , "Ordinarily, I would rather live in a small Midwestern town with love or loss than read a novel about a 10-year-old girl doing so, but Moriarty pulls it off. The secret to her success is a pitch-perfect voice and unfailing restraint. She's so good at portraying the charming mixture of egotism and insecurity, humility and grandiosity that marks adolescence....By listening closely to the innocence and perception of adolescence, she's invented a moral geometry that allows her to skewer and cherish simultaneously. There's no cheating in this novel, no phony breakthrough, or precious reconciliation, just a sweet, often comic series of tender moments spun from real-life battles and moments of kindness among unsorted laundry." (read the entire CSM review)
"Review" by , "This impressive debut is a marvelously satisfying story . . . Moriarty eschews tough questions . . . competing loves and loyalties of adolescence."
"Review" by , "Deadpan and dead on, this funny, moving portrait reads like To Kill a Mockingbird updated for our time."
"Review" by , "A pleasantly wry, spunky debut . . . Moriarty's gutsy opener is hard not to like."
"Review" by , "Intelligent and charming debut novel."
"Review" by , "Moriarty's enchanting novel passes too quickly."
"Review" by , "Realistic and familiar as a summer day in Kansas — brave and gritty, strong voiced and spare."
"Review" by , "So infectious that one never wants to put it down."
"Synopsis" by , In Moriarty's extraordinary first novel, a young girl tries to make sense of an unruly world spinning around her. Growing up with a single mother who is chronically out of work and dating a married man, ten-year old Evelyn Bucknow learns early how to fend for herself.
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