Downtown [Mass Market Paperback]

Norma Fox Mazer (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1984

My name is Pete Connors and I've been leading a double life for eight years. I live with my uncle and tell people my parents are dead... but it's a lie. My whole life is a lie, because I could never risk telling anyone the truth. Now I've met Cary. She's someone I can really talk to. Someone I want to share my whole life with. But now I have a choice. Do I continue the lie... or tell Cary the truth... and risk losing her?

Editorial Reviews

Review

"The characters here are real, unusual, and compelling... this is a very good book." -- -- Washington Post Book World

"Wonderfully compassionate" -- -- The New York Times

About the Author

Norma Fox Mazer, who lives in Pompey Hills of central New York State and in New York City, has written nearly thirty novels and short story collections for young adults. Her novels, including Missing Pieces, Out of Control, and the Newbery Honor Book After the Rain, are critically acclaimed and popular among young readers for their portrayal of teens in realistic and difficult problems. In her new book, Girlhearts, she brings back the memorable characters from Silver, who continue to deal with life's hardest moments through their honest and touching relationships.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 13 and up
  
• Mass Market Paperback: 208 pages
• Publisher: HarperTrophy (September 1984)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0380885344
• ISBN-13: 978-0380885343
• Product Dimensions: 6.6 x 4.2 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,912,335 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

NORMA FOX MAZER is the award-winning author of many novels for young people. She has been honored with the Christopher Award, a Newbery Honor, the Edgar Allen Poe Award, and a National Book Award nomination. She and her husband, novelist Harry Mazer, divide their time between Jamesville, New York, and New York City.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Take a trip "Downtown", June 5, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Downtown (Mass Market Paperback)

This is one of my favorite NFM books.("Silver" is stiff competition) In it, Pete Greenwood endeavored to understand his parents and himself. His mother and father were fugitive radicals, so they had to send him to live with his uncle at the age of 8. With a different name and identity, Pete began a new life. It seemed great, but he always brooded over his past. Now he's 16. Can he confide in his new girlfriend Cary? Will he ever be reunited with his parents? The ending is a sad but realistic cliffhanger. I'd love a sequel, but it's also interesting to speculate for yourself about what happens to Pete. I greatly reccomend this book to teens who feel lost in the search for identity.

5.0 out of 5 stars ...Downtown..., January 16, 2001

By 

HM - See all my reviews

This review is from: Downtown (Mass Market Paperback)

How do I start this? Well, Pete Greenwood's parents went into hiding when he was eight years old after they blew up a laboratory. He lives with his uncle Gene and has started a new life with a different name ("Pete"), but even now he is sixteen he still has nightmares and is in fear of being caught.

I agree with one of the other reviewers, the story is not just about his relationship with his new girlfriend. There is some focus about his fear of being caught as well as his wishing for his parents to return, and I liked that. I don't know whether you could call that realistic coz obviously I haven't experienced it, but I guess it should be something like that. I liked that you could think how it turned out in the end. I have no idea to whom I should recommend this, but I liked it...

3 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars my favorite Norma Fox Mazer book, March 25, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Downtown (Mass Market Paperback)

Although the paperback caption focuses on whether he can disclose the secret to his new girlfriend, the story is more than a romance. It's a powerful account of the effects a parents' fugitiveness have on a teenager. Pete Greenwood is very loyal to his parents and so will keep their secret; but he is plagued by nightmares (the "White Terror"), the constant fear of being watched and caught by the FBI, and the pain of being separated from his parents. Mazer has strong vivid characterizations, credible plot, and a moving storyline. The novel has suspense, drama, and romance. Downtown is my favorite Norma Fox Mazer book.