Being Fishkill

September 18, 2017
In Lehrer’s engrossing first novel, 12-year-old Carmel Fishkill (named after a highway exit sign her mother, Keely, glimpsed while giving birth in the back seat of a car) decides that starting seventh grade in a new school is an opportunity to toughen up her image, now that her abusive grandfather is dead and her drug-addicted mother has vanished. Starting with a name reversal, Carmel becomes dangerous Fishkill, but her plan is thrown off course when precocious but equally tough Duck-Duck Farina befriends her. Flashbacks to the poverty and neglect Fishkill endured with her grandfather (there are strong hints that he is actually Fishkill’s father) and mother sharply contrast with Duck-Duck’s affectionate relationship with her nurturing gay mother and their well-kept home, into which Fishkill is welcomed. The sexual identities of Duck-Duck’s mother and Fishkill, who grows attracted to Duck-Duck, are simply an understated part of the story’s backdrop. The plot, as well as Duck-Duck and Fishkill’s friendship, twists and turns as Keely reappears and disappears, until a tragic development changes the entire tone of the book, providing a bittersweet resolution. Ages 14–up.

October 1, 2017

Gr 6-10-Thirteen-year-old Fishkill Carmel has reinvented herself. She will no longer allow herself to be picked on, made fun of, or go hungry. She takes food from her classmates, but she gets more than she bargained for when she tries to take Duck-Duck Farina's lunch. Duck-Duck is fearless and adds Fishkill to her "gang" the GR. Soon Fishkill and Duck-Duck are inseparable and Fishkill's secrets start to come out. The protagonist has been on her own for months, thinking she killed her mother. Fishkill has kept this secret hidden, but finally tells Duck-Duck and eventually her mother, Molly. Molly immediately takes in Fishkill and begins to treat her like she's her own daughter. Just as Fishkill starts to feel comfortable in her life, junior high cliques and the sudden reappearance of Keely ruin everything. This is a difficult and devastating book to get through. Lehrer's debut is well written and touches upon tough subjects such as bullying, abuse, and teen pregnancy in a lyrical but age-appropriate way. Fishkill lives a hard life, but the book speaks to how schools and institutions handle students in poverty. VERDICT A great purchase for public libraries.-Faythe Arredondo, Tulare County Library, CA

Copyright 2017 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

August 15, 2017
Born in the back seat of a car and named for a road sign, Carmel Fishkill's first 12 years of life are filled with neglect and abuse. After her grandfather's death and her mother's disappearance, she decides to refashion her image by switching her name and becoming Fishkill. She begins using violence to intimidate other students into giving her food. But when she tries her tactics on a new girl who calls herself Duck-Duck, she finds she has met her match and made a new friend. When Duck-Duck's mother, Molly, presses her for details about her home life, Fishkill reluctantly admits that she has been living alone for months. Molly tries to help, but the reappearance of Fishkill's mother, Keely, complicates everything. Keely is erratic, dangerous, and immature, but when Duck-Duck begins shunning Fishkill in favor of the popular girls, she might be her only option. A desperately sad story of profound abuse is softened somewhat by the highly intelligent Duck-Duck and her loving mother. But neither love nor grief is linear. Fishkill's guilt, anger, and abandonment only intensify as the story unfolds, leaving her desperate and unsure where to turn. The characters seem to be default white, with diversity limited to the sexual orientation of some key characters. Abuse is eclipsed by love in this moving novel. (Fiction. 14-18)

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September 15, 2017
Grades 9-12 When seventh grade starts, self-christened Fishkill Carmel (Carmel Fishkill doesn't sound as tough) gets pretty good at taking her classmates' lunches. Then she meets Duck-Duck, who initiates Fishkill into her gang, the Gumbo Rumbles. They hang out at the cemetery after school and paint grafitti on headstones. Fishkill likes hanging out with Duck-Duck at her house, where there are always second helpings of dinner. It's not like where Fishkill lives on Birge Hill with her late grandpa's trash shed. Fishkill's mom, Keely, used to live there, too, but not anymore. When Duck-Duck's mom finds out that Fishkill spent the whole summer alone after her mom disappeared, Fishkill goes to live with Duck-Duck and might even begin to healuntil Keely returns and knocks her off-balance. This is a somber tale of surviving abusethough there's no explicit violence, there are several implications that Fishkill is a product of incestand poverty. Lehrer pulls at heartstrings in her thought-provoking debut, while leaving some questions unanswered. Overall, a complex and well-plotted work.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2017, American Library Association.)

January 1, 2018
Twelve-year-old Fishkill Carmel has developed a tough exterior thanks to a home life filled with extreme poverty, neglect, and abuse. But after her grandpa dies and her mother disappears, Fishkill begins to forge a new life with her friend Duck-Duck Farina and Duck-Duck's mother Molly, who offers unconditional care and acceptance. This moving, mature novel features lyrical writing and unforgettable characters.

(Copyright 2018 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)