Customer Reviews

Donorboy: A Novel

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

In Donorboy, writer and teacher Brendan Halpin does a remarkable job in capturing the ways of adolescent communication in this online world.

The basis of Donorboy is the union of an orphaned girl, Rosalind, and Sean Cassidy, the man who donated the sperm that resulted in her conception. When Rosalind's lesbian Mom dies, custody falls to Sean, a totally unprepared, poorly domesticated, never married, thirtysomething lawyer. The union is heart wrenching and comical by turns.

Rosalind spends her first months of mourning writing an online Grief journal which is deeply sad, extremely angry, and hysterically funny all at the same time. A great deal of her journal rage is directed at Sean, who is a safe bet since its "not right to be angry at her mom" and since Sean is an unknown quanity whom she has been forced to live with. So he makes for the object of a pretty safe scapegoat -- especially since he doesn't get to read what she is writing.

The story is initially told in the adolescent voice of Rosalind in the language that kids use to write online. In that respect, it is somewhat awkward to catch its rhythm right at the start, unless one speaks (and reads) Adolescent as a Second Language.

Through the story, we come to admire these two strong characters as they attempt to come to some truce and a common ground on which to create a relationship and an amicable life together.

Sean recognizes that speaking directly to Rosalind is only met with stoney silences. So he takes to e-mailing her and to that extent the entire book is really a series of online and e-mail entries that document the union of these two characters.

Despite her anger and her tremendous sense of loss, Rosalind eventually opens up to Sean and they find themselves bonding.

Halpin has done a remarkable job of truly capturing the teen voice and in expressing the profound loss and the anger of a teen who loses a parent. The story is comical, touching, sad and full of hope for better times.

In the last four years Brendan Halpin has become a fresh new voice on the scene. He draws much from his own life experiences and does a remarkable, and often enough, humorous job in whatever story he is telling.

Highly recommended -- especially for a teen who may be struggling with loss.

Daniel J. Maloney
Saint Paul, Minnesota, USA

A *MUST* read! I happened to pick it up on its release day by some miracle while strolling through the bookstore! It's an extremely fresh voice! Its all told through email, IM, text messaging, etc. It is about a 14 year old girl whose two lesbian moms were killed in a car accident. Her "father" fights for custody and wins. The story is about the struggles they go through in the early stages of their relationship. Its extremely funny, but extremely heartbreaking at the same time. Its an amazing read, and I couldn't put it down. I read it in about a 7 day span, 3 of which I was sick and didn't pick it up.

I loved this book and read it from cover to cover in one sitting. The presentation of the book made it easy to relate to all the characters, not just one. Those who think e-mail is an impersonal form of communication will quickly change their minds. It showed the complexity of human emotion in a time of grief and change. The characters pain was very real but was nicely balanced with humor. This book reminded me of the best roller coaster I'd ever been on: lots of ups and downs, twists and turns, scary and exciting at the same time. I was disappointed when it ended, and it left me waiting for Halpin's next novel.

Its the first book I've picked up in a long time and I don't consider myself a novelist or a professional critic like some of the critics below think they are. That being said I enjoyed the book.

I liked the style in which the story was presented, ie. the text messages, emails, im's, journal entries and transcripted sessions. The story behind the death was supposed to be ridiculous, it was a tragic event, they are hardly ever normal. The characters where realistic and your only getting what they commited of themselves to print. That way you can assume the rest. Its not a grief story, a gay story, a childhood drama story, a growing up phase story in its usual sense of the category. It is a feel good story.

I found myself not able to put it down till I was done and in the end smiled. Good enough for me.

It had me cracking up. It's a perfect mixture of tragic and funny. I even like the fake that it's told through emails and AIMs messages.
So it's heartwarming, big deal? And who cares if you know how it ends? It's still a unique, well written enjoyable story that will have you laughing in bits and crying in others.

I thoroughly enjoyed this novel. Brendan Halpin has given a sensitive treatment to a very contemporary situation. I loved reading in the "text message" genre. Although I rarely text message, I found that this format made for easy reading; hard to put down until you'd finished it!

I read this book today and I loved it! The whole book is written as a collection of emails, diary excerpts, notes and text messages. The basis of the story is really sad, but Brendan Halpin tells it in a way that is both humorous and touching. I could not believe how accurately he was able to describe the feelings that you have when it is in the middle of the night and you are worrying about where your teenage daughter really is. I also love the support team that the father has - the teacher/coach buddy, the lesbian "aunt", and the stoner dad. I remember a while back, I read a book by Wally Lamb called "She's Come Undone", and when I finished it, I kept thinking that it just didn't seem possible for a man to be able to know so much about how it felt to be a woman. Well, this was another book like that - I just couldn't imagine how Brendan Halpin could be so good at understanding the inner workings of a teenage girl's mind. Wow!

Not many people try their hand at epistlatory novels, and fewer still succeed (The last one I read was Fair and Tender Ladies by Lee Smith.) In Donorboy, Halpin gives his a modern twist through e-mails, voice recordings, instant messaging, and a "grief journal." This was a wonderful book, with a dead-on feel for how a teenager sounds and an even deeper sense of how humans connect and fail each other. I've also read and would recommend his two non-fiction books, It Takes a Worried Man, which perversely offered me comfort when my father was dying, as well as Losing My Faculties.

I started to read this on my lunch hour and was so into it i was late. The relationship between father, donor, and the daughter is somewhat uncanny but it is a good read. If you would like an insight into what your teenager is thinking or feeling read this story, it reminds me of me about two years ago.

i stumbled onto a more recent book of halpin's, called a long way back, and was blown away by his writing. that book said, "by the author of donorboy" on the cover. so, i recently downloaded this book to my kindle, and read it on a couple plane flights.

dude is a great writer! (i've since downloaded the rest of his books.)

donorboy tells the story of a 14 year-old girl, beginning shortly after the deaths of her two lesbian mothers in a car accident. "donorboy" is, well, the sperm donor who is, technically, her father, but has never even met her (he was an old friend of one of her moms'). but donorboy - who is in his young thirties and never married - decides to pursue custody of her, and wins.

when the story begins, the two aren't even talking at all (only because she will not talk to him). halpin uses a creative collection of journal entries, emails, text messages, and meeting transcripts to piece the unfolding story for us (it's a brilliant literary device that would have felt forced in the hands of a lesser author).

we get an insider's glimpse into the pain and tiny steps of healing in the mind and heart of a young teen girl. we see a father who is flailing and failing and trying and patient and second-guessing his own every move. it's an aching story of healing and restoration.

in a long way back, halpin wrote extensively about grief through a middle aged female narrator (the sister of the man in grief). in this story, he tells a story of grief through the voices of a 14 year-old girl and a 30-something guy. fascinating. the guy certainly has an inside track on what grief really looks and feels like. and healing too.

a great read for older teenagers, parents, and youth workers. but just a great read for anyone, really.