Anna Begins [Paperback]

Jennifer Davenport (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 15, 2008

Anna Begins is a pair of novellas, each about a girl and a boy, both seventeen years old. In the title story, Melissa has an eating disorder, an absent best friend, a disconnected mother, her first kiss, and is writing a story about all of it. The second story, "A Million Miles Up," is an upside-down accounting of teenage love. Scott and Elly try to navigate their junior year in high school. Scott wants to be famous and takes up celebrity-scale drinking. Elly just wants to be happy, but must deal with a family secret. As both of them fall through the cracks at their school, they approach an ending neither of them can return from. The two stories in this book explore the humor, frustration, and depth of pain that come with the most awkward years of life: the teens. Anna Begins won the 2008 Black Heron Press Award for Social Fiction. From the announcement of that award: "The stories in this fine book are concerned, in part, with the affects of a neglectful or abusive parent on her or his child. The teenagers respond in different ways. One assaults her own body; another her father. Yet, despite the self-loathing and rage, they search for the answers to life's questions in song lyrics, they test the limits of friendship, they are funny and sarcastic, they make each other laugh, and they open a window to the reader's past, if he is already an adult, or to insight into her own life, if she is still being tossed about by the storms of adolescence."

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Jennifer Davenport grew up in Wyckoff, New Jersey. She graduated fron Drew University where she majored in English. She works for a K-12 school near her home in Nyack, New York, heading up their technology department. In her free time, she likes to travel, to eat good food, read and cycle. She can be found online at jenniferdavenport.net.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 14 and up
  
• Paperback: 149 pages
• Publisher: Black Heron Press; 1 edition (March 15, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0930773837
• ISBN-13: 978-0930773830
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.9 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,641,547 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic Book by a Fantastic Author!, April 13, 2008

By 

Elan "Super Agent" (Manhattan) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Anna Begins (Paperback)

Anna Begins was really a fantastic book, I'm so glad I read it. It really explores its subjects very well in an honest light, and is masterfully written. I can't wait to read more from Jennifer Davenport.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A quirky yet brilliantly written set of stories, June 15, 2008

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Anna Begins (Paperback)

Teenager - the period where one is no longer a child, yet still is not yet an adult, and in the world, an awkward place to be in. "Anna Begins" follows a few of these teens in a pair of two novellas. The first, the title story, follows Melissa through the pains of trying to deal with her body image, dealing with the first pressures of sex, and facing the fact that her mother and best friend don't seem to be there for her in her time of need. The other, 'A Million Miles' up, looks at Scott who faces a drinking problem, fast on the path to destroying his life despite his young age, and Elly who tries to live a happy life despite the skeletons in her family's closet - which may lead her down a destructive path of her own, as they try to find comfort in one another. "Anna Begins" is a quirky yet brilliantly written set of stories sure to give teens something to connect with and a good pick for community library young adult fiction collections.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant, June 7, 2008

By 

Arthur J. Heller (New Jersey, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Anna Begins (Paperback)

Anna Begins is absolutely brilliant. More than just fiction, this book is a piece of literature that reaches in and reminds you what it was like to be in high school. Jennifer Davenport's style is second-to-none. She is one of those rare authors who can write in that special kind of way that the rest of us WISH we could write. Five stars, recommended reading for anyone.

AJH