Synopses & Reviews
Fans of Andrew Smith and Matt de la Pena will be captivated by this summer-in-the-life of a teenage guy growing up in a trailer park in Eugene, Oregon.
Travis plans to spend the summer as follows:
• Working on his basketball game with his friend, Creature.
• Reading excerpts from Creature’s novel-in-progress: The Pervert’s Guide to Russian Princesses.
• Canoeing around the lake, trying to catch a glimpse of the beautiful girl who just moved in.
• Not getting into trouble, not going back to juvie...
• Searching the homeless camps for his mother, with a jar full of cash to help her get back on her feet.
From a powerful new voice in YA literature comes an unforgettable account of growing up, making mistakes, and growing out of the shadow of drug abuse.
Review
In this tragicomic YA debut from adult author Hoffmeister (Let Them Be Eaten by Bears) a young man contends with anger family troubles and romance over a few increasingly chaotic months. Travis’s summer goals are simple: improve his basketball skills stay out of trouble and try to cheer up his grandmother who’s dying from cancer. He also hangs out with his best friend Creature spends time with a mercurial girl named Natalie and searches for his drug addicted mother in the homeless camps around the area. But the harder Travis tries the more things spiral out of control and when Creature runs afoul of a vindictive gang member it puts everything into a new perspective. Hoffmeister’s coming of age story is both profane and profound—as Travis eloquently puts it early on “Fuck being here in this trailer park and waiting to die. Fuck cancer.” Excerpts from Creature’s work in progress a combination history/erotic romance entitled The Pervert’s Guide to Russian Princesses give the story a surreal yet poignant edge. The result is a raw offbeat novel with an abundance of honesty and heart. Ages 14–up. Agent: Adriann Ranta Foundry Literary + Media. (May)¦" Publishers Weekly Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved."
Review
In this tragicomic YA debut from adult author Hoffmeister (Let Them Be Eaten by Bears) a young man contends with anger family troubles and romance over a few increasingly chaotic months. Travis’s summer goals are simple: improve his basketball skills stay out of trouble and try to cheer up his grandmother who’s dying from cancer. He also hangs out with his best friend Creature spends time with a mercurial girl named Natalie and searches for his drug addicted mother in the homeless camps around the area. But the harder Travis tries the more things spiral out of control and when Creature runs afoul of a vindictive gang member it puts everything into a new perspective. Hoffmeister’s coming of age story is both profane and profound—as Travis eloquently puts it early on “Fuck being here in this trailer park and waiting to die. Fuck cancer.” Excerpts from Creature’s work in progress a combination history/erotic romance entitled The Pervert’s Guide to Russian Princesses give the story a surreal yet poignant edge. The result is a raw offbeat novel with an abundance of honesty and heart. Ages 14–up. Agent: Adriann Ranta Foundry Literary + Media. (May)¦" Publishers Weekly Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved."
Review
“Profane and profound…A raw offbeat novel with an abundance of honesty and heart.” Publishers Weekly (starred review)
Review
"Hoffmeister crushes it. There is blood and truth on every page." Estelle Laure, author of This Raging Light
Review
"So real it hurts." David Arnold, author of Mosquitoland
Synopsis
"So real it hurts." David Arnold, New York Times bestselling author ofKids of Appetite
Fans of Andrew Smith and Matt de la Pena will be captivated by this summer-in-the-life of a teenage guy growing up in a trailer park in Eugene, Oregon.
Travis plans to spend the summer as follows:
Working on his basketball game with his friend, Creature.
Reading excerpts from Creature's novel-in-progress: The Pervert's Guide to Russian Princesses.
Canoeing around the lake, trying to catch a glimpse of the beautiful girl who just moved in.
Not getting into trouble, not going back to juvie . . .
Searching the homeless camps for his mother, with a jar full of cash to help her get back on her feet.
From a powerful new voice in YA literature comes an unforgettable account of growing up, making mistakes, and growing out of the shadow of drug abuse.
"Profane and profound... A raw offbeat novel with an abundance of honesty and heart." Publishers Weekly, starred review
"Hoffmeister crushes it.There is blood and truth on every page." Estelle Laure, author ofThis Raging Light"
Synopsis
"So real it hurts."--David Arnold, New York Times bestselling author of Mosquitoland. A summer of basketball, first love, and the friends who've got your back when life gets crazy, set in a trailer park in small town America.
Travis never gives up.
Not when his mom takes off.
Not when he gets suspended from basketball.
Not when he cracks four ribs jumping off a bridge to impress a girl.
Not when he and his best friend Creature get into trouble deeper than they know how to handle.
From acclaimed author Peter Brown Hoffmeister comes a painfully-funny, sometimes-crushing story of growing up, making mistakes, and pressing on, against the odds.
"In my mind the best storytellers walk that high tight wire between tragedy and comedy. This Is the Part Where You Laugh is exactly the part where you laugh. And ache. This is a really good book "--Chris Crutcher
"A courageous novel. Incandescent and unflinching." --Jeff Zentner, author of The Serpent King
"A raw offbeat novel with an abundance of honesty and heart." --Publishers Weekly, starred review
"Hoffmeister crushes it. There is blood and truth on every page." --Estelle Laure, author of This Raging Light
About the Author
Peter Brown Hoffmeister is the author of the critically acclaimed adult novel Graphic the Valley, and the memoir The End Of Boys. A former troubled teen, Hoffmeister now runs the Integrated Outdoor Program, serving teens of all backgrounds, taking them into wilderness areas to backpack, climb, spelunk, orienteer, and whitewater raft. He lives with his wife and daughters in Eugene, Oregon.