Synopses & Reviews
It is 1978 in the Twin Cities, and Kevin Doyle, a high school senior, is a marginal student in love with keggers, rock and roll, and-unbeknownst to anyone else-a boy in his class with thick eyelashes and a bad attitude. His mother Eileen died two years earlier when her car plunged into the icy waters of the Mississippi River, and since then Kevin's relationship with his father Patrick has become increasingly distant. As lonely women vie for his father's attention, Kevin discovers Patrick's own closely guarded secret: he had planned to abandon his family for another woman. More disturbingly, his mother's death may well have been a suicide, not an accident.
Complicating the family dynamic is the constant meddling of Kevin's outspoken Aunt Nora-who will never forgive Patrick for Eileen's death-along with Patrick's inability to stay single for very long. His loyalties divided between his father and his aunt, between his internal reality and his public persona, Kevin is forced to reevaluate his notions of family and love as painful truths emerge about both. Brian Malloy is the development director for The Loft, the largest independent literary arts center in the U.S., as well as grants director for Open Book, a community center for the literary and book arts. He lives in Minneapolis. The Year of Ice is his first novel. Visit the author's website at www.malloywriter.com. Winner of the Alex Award
A Booklist Editors' Choice Best Adult Book for Young Adults
A Finalist for the Ferro-Grumley AwardPopular Paperbacks for Young Adults Nominee It's 1978 and a typical January day in Minnesota's Twin Citiesexcept for Kevin Doyle, whose mother died two years ago when her car plunged into the icy waters of the Upper Mississippi. A high school senior, Kevin is a marginal student obsessed with keggers, rock and roll, maintaining his place in the pecking order of high school males andunbeknownst to anyone elsewith a boy in his school with thick eyelashes and a bad attitude.
In the past two years, Kevin's relationship with his father, Patrick, has grown increasingly distant, and as lonely women vie for his father's attention, Kevin discovers Patrick's own closely guarded secret: At the time of his wife's death, he had planned to abandon his family for another woman. More disturbingly, his mother's death may well have been a suicide, not an accident.
Fanning the flames of familial discontent is Kevin's Aunt Nora, a belligerent and fiercely religious Irish immigrant who has never liked her brother-in-law and blames him for the death of her sister. In the coming year, a series of painful truths and closely guarded secrets threatens to shatter the tentative bonds between father and son and wreak havoc on the lives of those nearest to them both. Winner of the Alex Award
A Booklist Editors' Choice Best Adult Book for Young Adults
A Finalist for the Ferro-Grumley Award
"A gay high school senior struggles to cope with his father's irresponsibility in Malloy's poignant, quietly effective debut . . . The author displays a razor-sharp comic touch in the verbal sparring between father and son as Pat tries to bring his instant family together, and he balances the comedy with some touching scenes after Pat messes up his latest domestic venture. Malloy shows plenty of talent in his gay spin on the genre, and this debut bodes well for his literary future."Publishers Weekly "Malloy's supporting characters are complex and fascinating . . . but it's Kevin himself that makes the novel, a kid with problems serious and mundane who still gets by without losing his mind, his heart or his sense of humor."The Philadelphia Inquirer
"In The Year of Ice, first-time novelist Brian Malloy writes like a seasoned author. The story is a grabber from the get-go. The Year of Ice extends far beyond the humdrum coming-out/coming-of-age genre. Family dysfunction, honor and honesty are all major themes, filtered through the limitations of a teenager's mindset and handled with deft humor."Minneapolis Star Tribune
"In Kevin, Malloy gives us a normally self-centered, moody teenager who is smarter than he knows and more self-possessed than nearly anyone else around him. Furthermore, if he goes through hell, he also gets some breaks, including glimpses of real gay life right in Minneapolis and enough trust from and insight into his friends to see that they are dealing with 'major shit,' too. More a coming-toward-coming-out than a coming-out story, this book's a beauty, whatever you call it."Ray Olson, Booklist (starred review)
"An impressive debut . . . It's Malloy's voice and his attention to detail that resonate so beautifully."Out magazine
"The Year of Ice is a terrific bildungsroman of deep passions, family tragedy, and manly sensuality told with a great deal of humor and excitement. Malloy's intimate and honest voice should win him many adoring fans."Josip Novakovich, New York Public Library Writing Fellow and author of Salvation and Other Disasters
"With intelligence, empathy, and just the right dose of humor, Brian Malloy completely immerses us in the world of an ordinary boy going through the very extraordinary process of living his eighteenth year. In Kevin Doyle, Malloy gives us a gritty, witty, and utterly engrossing portrait of a young man who has enough on his hands with impending adulthood but then is forced to confront some very ugly long-buried family secrets. In The Year of Ice, lies are exposed, hearts broken, ideals shattered, and Brian Malloy, with keen eye and assured hand, announces himself as a writer to watch."Anne Ursu, author of Spilling Clarence
"Brian Malloy has a keen sense of time and place, of humor and character and most importantly, Brian Malloy has a big heart and it reveals itself on every single page of this fine novel."Lorna Ladvick, author of Patty Jane's House of Curl and Your Oasis on Flame Lake
"Brian Malloy creates a story where being gay is only one of a teenager's problems, and not the most difficult one. The less-than-perfect people in the boy's lifethe philandering father, the aggressive divorcées and widowsmake for a new realism. Other writers would do well to read this original book."David Leddick, author of My Worst Date and Never Eat In
"With his sharp, native instinct and determination, Kevin Doyle, the smart-assed boy wonder of Brian Malloy's debut novel, is the gay Augie March of Minneapolis in the 1970s."Bart Schneider, author of Secret Love and Blue Bossa and Founding Editor of Hungry Mind Review
"Brian Malloy has written a delightful first novel . . . Malloy blends in an undercurrent of class conflict without mocking either Kevin's working-class background or the privileged liberalism of the rich kids he encounters . . . The Year of Ice is an artfully written portrait of a young man coming to terms with the world. Told with a keen and perceptive style, the story touches the hearts of all who have been young, of all who have struggled with identity, of all who have lost a sense of place and purpose, and all who have found that place again."Frontiers magazine
"Stunning. Malloy deftly weaves the coming-of-age tale into a revealing account of sexual awakenings and the consequences of deception."Wisconsin In Step
"Malloy is in complete control throughout: whether communicating images of an icy midwestern winter or eliciting the complexities of relationships that are chilling and thawing. He also does a bang up job with humor . . . unique and new."Echo magazine
"Amiable, told briskly and with considerable style."Kirkus Reviews
"A gay high school senior struggles to cope with his father's irresponsibility in Malloy's poignant, quietly effective debut . . . Displays a razor-sharp comic touch in the verbal sparring between father and son as [the father] tries to bring his instant family together, and [Malloy] balances the comedy with some touching scenes after [the father] messes up his latest domestic venture. Malloy shows plenty of talent in his gay spin on the genre, and this debut bodes well for his literary future."Publishers Weekly
Synopsis
It is 1978 in the Twin Cities, and Kevin Doyle, a high school senior, is a marginal student in love with keggers, rock and roll, and--unbeknownst to anyone else--a boy in his class with thick eyelashes and a bad attitude. His mother Eileen died two years earlier when her car plunged into the icy waters of the Mississippi River, and since then Kevin's relationship with his father Patrick has become increasingly distant. As lonely women vie for his father's attention, Kevin discovers Patrick's own closely guarded secret: he had planned to abandon his family for another woman. More disturbingly, his mother's death may well have been a suicide, not an accident.
Complicating the family dynamic is the constant meddling of Kevin's outspoken Aunt Nora--who will never forgive Patrick for Eileen's death--along with Patrick's inability to stay single for very long. His loyalties divided between his father and his aunt, between his internal reality and his public persona, Kevin is forced to accept his gay identity and reevaluate his notions of family and love as painful truths emerge about both.
Synopsis
Brian Malloy's acclaimed debut novel set in Minneapolis in the late 70's, The Year of Ice is the story of a painfully revealing year that threatens to shatter the tenuous bonds between a father and his teenage son
It is 1978 in the Twin Cities, and Kevin Doyle, a high school senior, is a marginal student in love with keggers, rock and roll, and--unbeknownst to anyone else--a boy in his class with thick eyelashes and a bad attitude. His mother Eileen died two years earlier when her car plunged into the icy waters of the Mississippi River, and since then Kevin's relationship with his father Patrick has become increasingly distant. As lonely women vie for his father's attention, Kevin discovers Patrick's own closely guarded secret: he had planned to abandon his family for another woman. More disturbingly, his mother's death may well have been a suicide, not an accident.
Complicating the family dynamic is the constant meddling of Kevin's outspoken Aunt Nora--who will never forgive Patrick for Eileen's death--along with Patrick's inability to stay single for very long. His loyalties divided between his father and his aunt, between his internal reality and his public persona, Kevin is forced to accept his gay identity and reevaluate his notions of family and love as painful truths emerge about both.
Synopsis
It is 1978 in the Twin Cities, and Kevin Doyle, a high school senior, is a marginal student in love with keggers, rock and roll, and-unbeknownst to anyone else-a boy in his class with thick eyelashes and a bad attitude. His mother Eileen died two years earlier when her car plunged into the icy waters of the Mississippi River, and since then Kevin's relationship with his father Patrick has become increasingly distant. As lonely women vie for his father's attention, Kevin discovers Patrick's own closely guarded secret: he had planned to abandon his family for another woman. More disturbingly, his mother's death may well have been a suicide, not an accident.
Complicating the family dynamic is the constant meddling of Kevin's outspoken Aunt Nora-who will never forgive Patrick for Eileen's death-along with Patrick's inability to stay single for very long. His loyalties divided between his father and his aunt, between his internal reality and his public persona, Kevin is forced to reevaluate his notions of family and love as painful truths emerge about both. Brian Malloy is the development director for The Loft, the largest independent literary arts center in the U.S., as well as grants director for Open Book, a community center for the literary and book arts. He lives in Minneapolis. The Year of Ice is his first novel. Visit the author's website at www.malloywriter.com. Winner of the Alex Award
A Booklist Editors' Choice Best Adult Book for Young Adults
A Finalist for the Ferro-Grumley AwardPopular Paperbacks for Young Adults Nominee It's 1978 and a typical January day in Minnesota's Twin Cities--except for Kevin Doyle, whose mother died two years ago when her car plunged into the icy waters of the Upper Mississippi. A high school senior, Kevin is a marginal student obsessed with keggers, rock and roll, maintaining his place in the pecking order of high school males and--unbeknownst to anyone else--with a boy in his school with thick eyelashes and a bad attitude.
In the past two years, Kevin's relationship with his father, Patrick, has grown increasingly distant, and as lonely women vie for his father's attention, Kevin discovers Patrick's own closely guarded secret: At the time of his wife's death, he had planned to abandon his family for another woman. More disturbingly, his mother's death may well have been a suicide, not an accident.
Fanning the flames of familial discontent is Kevin's Aunt Nora, a belligerent and fiercely religious Irish immigrant who has never liked her brother-in-law and blames him for the death of her sister. In the coming year, a series of painful truths and closely guarded secrets threatens to shatter the tentative bonds between father and son and wreak havoc on the lives of those nearest to them both. Winner of the Alex Award
A Booklist Editors' Choice Best Adult Book for Young Adults
A Finalist for the Ferro-Grumley Award
A gay high school senior struggles to cope with his father's irresponsibility in Malloy's poignant, quietly effective debut . . . The author displays a razor-sharp comic touch in the verbal sparring between father and son as Pat tries to bring his instant family together, and he balances the comedy with some touching scenes after Pat messes up his latest domestic venture. Malloy shows plenty of talent in his gay spin on the genre, and this debut bodes well for his literary future.--Publishers Weekly Malloy's supporting characters are complex and fascinating . . . but it's Kevin himself that makes the novel, a kid with problems serious and mundane who still gets by without losing his mind, his heart or his sense of humor.--The Philadelphia Inquirer
In The Year of Ice, first-time novelist Brian Malloy writes like a seasoned author. The story is a grabber from the get-go. The Year of Ice extends far beyond the humdrum coming-out/coming-of-age genre. Family dysfunction, honor and honesty are all major themes, filtered through the limitations of a teenager's mindset and handled with deft humor.--Minneapolis Star Tribune
In Kevin, Malloy gives us a normally self-centered, moody teenager who is smarter than he knows and more self-possessed than nearly anyone else around him. Furthermore, if he goes through hell, he also gets some breaks, including glimpses of real gay life right in Minneapolis and enough trust from and insight into his friends to see that they are dealing with 'major shit, ' too. More a coming-toward-coming-out than a coming-out story, this book's a beauty, whatever you call it.--Ray Olson, Booklist (starred review)
An impressive debut . . . It's Malloy's voice and his attention to detail that resonate so beautifully.--Out magazine
The Year of Ice is a terrific bildungsroman of deep passions, family tragedy, and manly sensuality told with a great deal of humor and excitement. Malloy's intimate and honest voice should win him many adoring fans.--Josip Novakovich, New York Public Library Writing Fellow and author of Salvation and Other Disasters
With intelligence, empathy, and just the right dose of humor, Brian Malloy completely immerses us in the world of an ordinary boy going through the very extraordinary process of living his eighteenth year. In Kevin Doyle, Malloy gives us a gritty, witty, and utterly engrossing portrait of a young man who has enough on his hands with impending adulthood but then is forced to confront some very ugly long-buried family secrets. In The Year of Ice, lies are exposed, hearts broken, ideals shattered, and Brian Malloy, with keen eye and assured hand, announces himself as a writer to watch.--Anne Ursu, author of Spilling Clarence
Brian Malloy has a keen sense of time and place, of humor and character and most importantly, Brian Malloy has a big heart and it reveals itself on every single page of this fine novel.--Lorna Ladvick, author of Patty Jane's House of Curl and Your Oasis on Flame Lake
Brian M
About the Author
Brian Malloy is the development director for The Loft, the largest independent literary arts center in the U.S., as well as grants director for Open Book, a community center for the literary and book arts. He lives in Minneapolis. The Year of Ice is his first novel.
Reading Group Guide
1. Robert Frosts poem “Stopping by the Woods on a Snowy Evening” is referenced several times throughout the book. How does it relate to Kevin? What does Kevins evolving answer to his teachers question about the poem reveal about Kevin?
2. Kevins mother died two years before the events of the novel. Do you think her death was an accident or a suicide? Why does or doesnt that matter?
3. Both Kevin and his father Patrick are keeping dark secrets from each other, perhaps even from themselves. Do you believe that Kevins primary loyalties are to his father or to his own secrets? Are Patricks loyalties to Kevin or to his own secrets? How do those loyalties shift over the course of the novel?
4. The Year of Ice is set in Minneapolis/St. Paul in 1978. In what ways do you think the story told is rooted to that time and place? In what ways does the story transcend its setting and time period?
5. Kevin Doyle narrates the novel in the first person. How did you react to Kevin as a character? Would your reaction to Kevin be different were the novel written in the third person or from another point of view?
6. Apart from the Doyle family, what other characters have secrets to keep? How have their secrets affected those characters lives? Is not telling the truth, or the whole truth, the same as lying? And is telling the truth always for the best?
7. After the events of the book, what do you think happens to Patrick Doyle? To Kevin Doyle?
8. The secondary characters in the book often take center stage at some point in the book. What is the importance of Floyd Anderson? Of Kevins Aunt Nora? Of Jon Thompson? Of Laurie Lindstrom? Did they succeed or fail as characters in their own right?
9. The events of The Year of Ice take place over Kevin Doyles last semester of high school and the first six months after graduation. What events and elements of Kevins story felt familiar to your own experiences? Which were unfamiliar and why?
10. There were a number of events or turning points experienced or remembered by Kevin during the course of the novel. Which one do you believe was the most pivotal to Kevin and the direction he takes in his life by the end of the book? Why?