The Broken Places: A Novel [Paperback]

Susan Perabo (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 26, 2002

When an abandoned farmhouse collapses in Casey, Pennsylvania, twelve-year-old Paul Tucker's father, Sonny, and the other Casey firemen attempt a dangerous rescue to reach a teenager buried under the rubble. Sonny himself is trapped by a secondary collapse and Paul and his mother fear the worst, but Sonny -- a second-generation fireman beloved in town -- emerges hours later, carrying the maimed body of sixteen-year-old Ian Finch. The rescue of this swastika-tattooed hoodlum -- who may have brought the house down while building bombs -- becomes a validation of all things American and true, and Sonny is immediately hailed as a national hero. But Ian's continued presence in Sonny's life creates a new set of hurdles for young Paul -- and his mother and his hometown -- to overcome.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Small-town fame is a blessing at first and then a curse in this modest, carefully composed novel about the 12-year-old descendant of two generations of heroic firemen. Growing up in Casey, Pa., Paul Tucker lives an idyllic life of bike rides, Frisbee golf and Pony football, evading his worrywart mom, Laura, and worshipping his firefighter dad, Sonny. Then one day, Sonny is called to a collapsed house to rescue 16-year-old Ian Finch, a swastika-tattooed rebel who was experimenting with explosives. While Ian's foot is trapped under the wreckage, another wall falls, and Sonny is caught, too. Hours later the two emerge, Ian missing one foot. Besieged by the media, Sonny is soon propelled from local hero to national celebrity. The Tuckers are unsettled by the publicity which culminates in a realistically ludicrous made-for-TV movie but also by Sonny's nervous need for fame. What really happened under the collapsed house, and who was the true hero? As his family deteriorates and his dad begins to fall apart, Paul is hastened toward adulthood by the discovery that love sometimes requires compassion and courage. Perabo was widely praised for Who I Was Supposed to Be, her first collection of stories, and her debut novel is confident and well-crafted. She builds her world out of many carefully chosen details; even the most incidental characters are fully formed, fully present. Her protagonist is such a real boy that he gives credibility to the novel's most sensational events simply by experiencing them, and his thoughtful wonder makes the universal truths of growing up seem new. Agent, Elyse Cheney. 5-city author tour.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

Twelve-year-old Paul Tucker is an athletic, well-liked kid leading a fairly idyllic existence. His mother is the high-school teacher everyone has a crush on; his father, Sonny, is a legendary second-generation fireman in their small Pennsylvania town. A burnt building collapses while Sonny tries to rescue Ian, a rebellious teen with a swastika tattoo, but both survive. The rescue makes heroes of Sonny and Ian, with a Hollywood movie in the works, but Sonny descends into a deep and puzzling depression that pulls him further from his family. In unaffected prose sparked with well-chosen detail, Perabo, author of the acclaimed story collection Who I Was Supposed to Be (1999), explores themes of personal failure, fear, social prejudice, and family secrets while telling a gripping coming-of-age story. Best are the tense, heartbreaking scenes between Paul and his father that show the trauma of discovering a parent's deepest weaknesses and how children forgive and accept. Gillian Engberg
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster; 1st edition (November 26, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0743223152
• ISBN-13: 978-0743223157
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 6.8 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,403,826 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Tough, honest first novel, July 26, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: The Broken Places (Hardcover)

In this novel, Perabo deftly examines the myths that inform our lives, our families, our communities, and the way those myths are distorted by pressures that gather within the very structures they try to explain. Heroism, self-sacrifice, and grace under pressure all become corrosive elements within the small and fragile family she depicts through the eyes of its 12 year old son, Paul Tucker. The novel moves us with its characters as it forces us to think about its ideas, with just enough suspense thrown into the mix to keep us turning pages. Spare and haunting, smart and unblinking, a wonderful first novel.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This was a find!, August 21, 2001

By 

dawn waagner (Mackinac Island, MI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Broken Places (Hardcover)

There are books that you read in a few hours, there are books you only read now and then, and then there are books that you begin reading Saturday morning and don't put down until the sun is already well across the sky, becuase you can't. One of the most interesting things about The Broken Places is through out a great deal of the story there is no great physical action taking place, and yet you feel pulled to turn the page. I enjoy the way Ms. Parebo allows you to see the story from different points of view, and feel the changes that happen in people as they come to grips with who they really are. The Broken places is a story about truth, and how different that can be to each person effected by one event. How refreshing to see someone acknowledge that in a story that isn't always comfortable.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars a fine read, July 23, 2001

By 

Christopher Francese (Carlisle, PA United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Broken Places (Hardcover)

I loved this book. The style is beautifully simple and unsentimental--a bit like Raymond Carver or Tobias Wolff, only things actually happen. The story centers around the young son of a fireman involved in an accident, and it takes some surprising yet plausible turns. The characters are very real and complicated, and you keep seeing them differently as the novel progresses. Funny and wise by turns. I wished it was longer.