Ash [Hardcover]

Lisa Rowe Fraustino (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1995

Eighteen-year-old Ash's change of behavior and its disruptive effects on his family are recounted by younger brother Wes.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Filling a notebook with diary entries addressed to his older brother, Ash, 15-year-old Wes recaps the harrowing events of the last couple of years, prior to Ash's being diagnosed as "schizoid tended." Even as Wes conveys the distress, anger and sorrow he and his family experience, he paints a dense, vibrant picture of life in rural Maine. There his family owns and tends a motor lodge, participates in-and sometimes tries to avoid-services at the local Baptist church, and boogies at the VFW to the music of Ash's band. The narrative, unfortunately, lacks consistency, and genuinely moving or funny momments alternate with predictable, sometimes repetitious scenes. Wes's voice is convincing in its Maine colloquialisms, but can be grating as Fraustino (Grass and Sky) serves up forced jokes (e.g., the many snipes at Wes's sister and her boyfriend, "the Hormone"; the crude drawings attributed to Wes). More seriously, she resorts to shorthand with respect to several of the novel's more weighty concerns; the topic of incest, for example, is raised several times but never probed. Despite these flaws, however, the novel is a memorable one, both in its colorful evocation of a very particular setting and in its heartfelt observations of a family's shared pain. Ages 12-up.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal

Grade 8 Up?Wes, 15; his sister Deena, 17; and brother Ash, 18; help their parents operate Libby's Motor Lodge & Campground in Maine. Wes's journal describes the stress the family experiences as they gradually learn that Ash is schizophrenic. Formerly a popular, straight-A student, he withdraws, hears voices, and becomes lost to his family, eventually requiring institutionalization. Following a suicide attempt, Ash recovers enough to live in a group home. Wes writes in a fractured vernacular English. His tendency to capitalize at will makes it sound like he's SHOUTING almost randomly. These stylistic eccentricities coupled with a madcap, nonstop sense of humor make for a narrative that quickly wears thin. Told that his violin vibrato stinks, Wes allows, "I weren't mad?you was right" and explains later, "Bathroom acoustics was suppose to improve my ear for music, but I known it was my fingers that stunk." The book is illustrated with quirky black-ink cartoons. There's a fair amount of theological pondering, and Ash's difficulties eventually fuel his father's religious conversion. This is a coming-of-age tale about a family trying to save a loved one. They go through hell and emerge somewhere not quite so bad as hell, but not quite so good as where they started out. It's peopled with offbeat characters who seem almost, but not quite, real. Judith Caseley's My Father, the Nutcase (Knopf, 1992), also addresses the problems caused by a family member with mental illness. It is more successful than this book, which seems determined to be funny about a serious subject and isn't.?Joel Shoemaker, Southeast Jr. High School, Iowa City, IA
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 12 and up
  
• Hardcover: 171 pages
• Publisher: Orchard Books (NY) (April 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0531068897
• ISBN-13: 978-0531068892
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 6.2 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,569,869 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars THE TRUTH BEHIND ASH: A NOVEL, April 9, 2003

By 

MARCO E (FAIRFAX, VA, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Ash (Hardcover)

Using colloquial language typical to small-town Mainers, which can only be referred to as "Hillbilly-Boone" talk, Wesley Libby pains a vivid picture through his journal entries of how he and his family live their everyday lives with their special son, Ash. Ash, who was once the smart, tough, loving and musically talented older brother that Wesley admired had now turned into Mr. Hyde. Now he has become violent, uncivil, and insulting, which makes Wesley uneasy around his presence. But what caused this Dr. Jekel/Mr. Hyde personality? Schizoid tended. Now, through his daily diary entries, Wesley plays detective and tries to figure out what sparked Ash's schizoid tended. All in an attempt to get his former older brother back. On one account, Wesley recalls a moment when he saw Ash banging his head against a door in order to stop the voices in his head. In order to witness first hand how the entire Libby family deals with the bizarre change in their son with their feelings of confusion, sorrow and guilt, read the 160 page book Ash: A Novel, by Lisa Rowe Fraustino (Grass and Sky).
In this novel, Lisa Rowe Fraustino writes the book in the mindset of a 15 year old, small-town Maine resident with bad grammar, which makes you feel as if you were reading an actual dairy. With the jokes made by Wesley in order to poke fun at his older sister Deena, the book pulled me in and made me picture what the sister looks and acts like. So by the end of the novel, I felt as if I had already met the family. It's mainly because of the bad grammar, which played a significant role in bringing the book to life, that I enjoyed the book as much as I did.
If you like books that grab you attention from the begining, yet are not to complicated to understand, then Ash: A Novel by Lisa Rowe Fraustino is the book for you. Even though the book is 160 pages, the ending is not a flat cut-off.

3.0 out of 5 stars ASH, March 11, 2002

By 

amanda - See all my reviews

This review is from: Ash (Hardcover)

ASH is a novel written as a journal told by Wes, who writes about, his family and his brother Ashton and the problems they were going through. Drugs, kids, and religion. The main conflict was between Ashton and his family. Ashton had problems with drugs and finding himself spiritually.

Something in the book taht struck out to me was, the reality of the things the family went through. For example, Ashton had a problem with drugs and religion. He left home one night and wasnt heard from for a couple of weeks. His familywas worried sick. But, then he sent them a postcard saying how, "God's peices were spread around the world and I have to put them back toghether." He was really lost. I think that Wes, the younger brother writing the journal learned alot form the problems and experiences he and his family went thtough.

I thought ASH was a good as well as inspirational book. As i was reading this book, i realized all the tings that people go through. But, also how things can turn out alright. For example, Ashton was put through a program and gradually stopped taking drugs and learned to deal with his problems. I would recamend this book to anyone having problems with their parents, siblings, or life.

3.0 out of 5 stars ASH, March 11, 2002

By 

amanda - See all my reviews

This review is from: Ash (Hardcover)

ASH is a novel written as a journal told by Wes, who writes about, his family and his brother Ashton and the problems they were going through. Drugs, kids, and religion. The main conflict was between Ashton and his family. Ashton had problems with drugs and finding himself spiritually.

Something in the book taht struck out to me was, the reality of the things the family went through. For example, Ashton had a problem with drugs and religion. He left home one night and wasnt heard from for a couple of weeks. His familywas worried sick. But, then he sent them a postcard saying how, "God's peices were spread around the world and I have to put them back toghether." He was really lost. I think that Wes, the younger brother writing the journal learned alot form the problems and experiences he and his family went thtough.

I thought ASH was a good as well as inspirational book. As i was reading this book, i realized all the tings that people go through. But, also how things can turn out alright. For example, Ashton was put through a program and gradually stopped taking drugs and learned to deal with his problems. I would recamend this book to anyone having problems with their parents, siblings, or life.