Customer Reviews

America

5 star:		(18)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

Cathy says AMERICA uses gritty language authentic to the experience of the protagonist. She's right about that. Then she says it's not appropriate as a library book. On this point, she is dead wrong. In a perfect world, characters like Frank's chronically abused America would only exist in works of troubling fiction. But as the author understands, there are thousands of kids living America's life in our free nation every day. Some do not suffer to the degree America has in the broken foster care system. Some only suffer a taste of abuse. But every teen that believes he or she is the ONLY one living this kind of life will find great comfort and kinship within the pages of America, in part because Frank doesn't shy from the authenticity Cathy finds "offensive." Well, in a way I agree with her. It is deeply offensive that children must endure the kind of pain America and real kids like him have to endure. But telling their stories is NOT offensive. Telling their stories can, in fact, save lives. America may not be for all readers, but that is for each parent to decide for their OWN children. It's not Cathy's decision to make. And as long as Cathy has the intellectual freedom to say it does NOT belong on library shelves, my right to see it safely shelved is protected as well.

Please, step back and pause for a moment. If you don't understand this book, if it is uninspirational or overwhelmingly disturbing, if this novel comes across as entirely wrong in the context of reality, you need to gain some perspective on the lives of so many children. You need a "reality check." It is through ignorance that injustice exists, and these kids suffer for it daily. Step out of the box, please...you'll be changed, and glad you did. More importantly, you'll be able to help. At that point, help.

If you haven't read the book, please read the book. Then, help.

America is by far the best portrayal of a young person trapped in society's system of foster care that I have ever seen. The book may be too real for some, but not if you are a realist.

America's battle to understand who he is in this world is an exhiliratingly sad ride that alerts readers to a child welfare system that is overworked and understaffed. America actually gets "lost" in the system, which is symbolic of the thousands of American children who are ignored and "lost" everyday in our country's protection services.

America reminds us that our children need more than just parents to raise and watch out for them. Our children need other adults, teachers, coaches, counselors, neighbors and general role models to look out for our youth and set a positive example for them.

All of those commercials that ask for communities to take a second to get to know their youth are not for those of us who already do that. Even if you chose not to have kids, our country was not built on the attitude of "It's not my responsibility."

I love America symbolically, literally and on so many levels I can't even put it into words.

America is beautiful. If this book doesn't touch your emotions, then you are not human. This book is raw, real and heartbreakingly intriguing.

Thank you E.R. Frank for an expertly written Young Adult novel.

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.

I have read literally TONS of young adult fiction novels and I would have to say that this is my favorite along with When Kambia Elaine Flew In From Neptune by Lori Aurelia Williams and Ms. Frank's other book, Life Is Funny. I am fourteen years old currently but at the time I read this I was twelve almost thirteen and it has still resonated with me. I stayed up an entire night to read the book which was over two hundred pages but I couldn't stop. I felt a great desire to know what was happening next and I couldn't stop.
It is an incredibly well written book and has one of the most powerful plots I have EVER come across. It shows the crippling horror of abuse to an innocent child and his experiences growing old from a broken home. I would reccomend it to anyone age twelve and over who are tired of fluffy marshmallow plots of some of the books for teens today.

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.

This book will hit home if you know any child who has been in the welfare system. It is heart warming and a heart breaking story.

America - a 5 yr. old boy has been taken from the safety of a caring, loving foster home when his mother shows up to want to take him with her. Out of the hands of the caretaker, America goes back home with his mother and things get worse.

She leaves America alone when going on when of her binge for drug addiction. America is then thrown back into socail welfare. America feels nothing and doesn't speak much.

Dr. B - the therapist - deals daily with America and after much pushing and trying to establish trust, the trust finally comes. But, this trust has deep, dark secrets that will tear you up inside - knowing what this child went through - the one that was lost in the system.

If you do not like tear jerkers then, do not read this. It will tear your heart into pieces.

What does it take to get to the point were life is better than death. This is the life of America, the son of a crake head mother and an unknown father. After year of treatment that no child should ever,suffer he ends up in a mental institute for teens. Now suicidal, his new therapist Dr. B. tries to unlock the life and memories in the abyss of America's mind. This is a great story for young adults, but isn't for the faint of heart.

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.

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.