Customer Reviews

Nina: Adolescence

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4 star:		(1)
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Remember when your English teacher told you that the mark of a really good piece of writing was when the language was so masterfully employed as to be utterly beautiful and at the same time completely transparent, throwing the story into hyper-real relief without calling attention to itself? Your teacher was referring to Nina: Adolescence.

I prefer to read than write so this is my first review on Amazon. However, my teenage daughter and I both finished Nina Adolescence and felt this new book merited a review so other people would be sure to read this book. The book was a fairly quick read, but the characters and emotion of the book remained with me. It is because the descriptions are powerfully realistic. The characters, while not too admirable were very real. I could imagine these people living in their Boston suburb, flirting with the urban art scene, searching for their own identities, and struggling with the emotions of parenting....the death of one child and the loss of the other to adulthood.

The author is perceptive and convincingly conveys the varied emotions surrounding growing up. While the story is told from Nina's perspective, Hassinger is sensitive to the emotions of the other characters. Even though Nina may not understand what they are feeling, the reader can see the complexity in their emotions and their lives. Hassinger's style and power are impressive. I've recommended this book to a number of friends and it has generated good, thoughtful discussion.

Adolescence is hard enough--without your mother documenting every physical change you undergo, let alone naming you the nude subject of her art. This is just what Nina, the protagonist of Amy Hassinger's novel, Nina:Adolescence, must endure after her four-year-old brother, Dylan, suddenly drowns one afternoon in the pond behind their suburban-Boston home. Depressed and lonely after her son's death, Nina's mother finds refuge in her art, painting nude portraits of Nina and devoting her entire self to capturing the changes in her daughter: the rounding thighs, budding breasts, curving hip bones. Meanwhile, Nina is becoming more aware of her own sexuality, abetted by a cast of characters including Raissa, a friend from dance class, and her mother's old friend, Leo, an art critic with dubious intentions. A dancer, both conscious of her body and uncomfortable with her burgeoning sexuality, Nina must publicly deal with these changes as her mother wins praise for her haunting portraits.

In careful, exact prose, Amy Hassinger eloquently captures the delicacy of adolescence pulls off a compelling coming of age novel. What distinguishes this work is the humanity with which Hassinger writes--the way she understands and nurtures her characters. Instead of exploiting Dylan's death as a less polished writer might, Hassinger organically evokes the memory of his drowning as it was: quick, sudden, and still confusing after four years; his memory haunts the family like the portraits do all those who look upon them. This is an excellent book by an author whose voice I would follow anywhere.

Nina is a true piece of literary fiction that explores the themes of growing up, love, and family that are relevant to us all. I am an avid reader and this is one of the best books I have read in a LONG time. Do yourself a favor and buy this book TODAY!

I love a good book-but this-this was a GREAT book. Amy Hassinger writes in a way to make the reader feel what Nina is feeling. This is an amazingly real and heartfelt story. I highly reccomend it!!

I could not stop listening to this book! any audio book fan would enjoy this production. Mia Barron (the narrator)does an excellent job--especially with the interaction between the two teenage girls- Nina & her friend Riassa. It will remind you of your teenage years!
Great author, great story, even better on tape!
(aren't they always though!)

This novel deals beautifully with a fascinating and challenging subject - the female teenage years. At times the writing in 'Nina: Adolescence' transports me into Nina's very thoughts and circumstances. Amazing. The writing has a wonderful pace and lightness of touch. Don't miss out.

"Nina: Adolescence" is a character study, with intense focus on a modern family trying to survive a horrible tragedy. Nina experiences adolescence scarred from the death of her young brother. He was only four years old when he drowns in the backyard pond while under her watch, and she, at the age of 11, becomes the only child of damaged parents. In their grief, her mother--a painter--turns inward, while her father turns to the whiskey bottle. We learn the marriage was rocky before their son's death, and we also learn that Nina tries to bring her mother out of her depression by posing nude for a series of paintings. The posing and painting process works to bring mother and daughter together, although it alienates the father.

The paintings are shown at a Boston gallery and are breakthrough work for her mother's art career. And once the paintings are displayed and admired, a "creep factor" seeps into their world and into the story. It's one thing to read about typical, self-loathing body image of a teenager as she develops, it's another still to imagine it on display for the world to see, and to purchase. I refer to the keynote painting of the exhibit, "Nina: Adolescence."

Minor characters are few but also well developed. Raissa, Nina's only friend, who she meets in dance class, brings a spark to Nina's life. And then there's Leo--an absolute predator--who takes the story in such a repelling and sad direction, it almost became unbearable to read. If it weren't for the truly excellent writing and the power to bring out such strong emotion in me, I might not have finished this book. This is a disciplined and talented writer, with elegant descriptions. One is pulled through the story with great ease, in spite of the grim subject and the suffering characters.

From the author of "A Line Between Friends," McKenna Publishing Group.

I picked up this book years ago and just got around to reading it. Wow, is all I can say. Hard to put down. It's really about loss and the consequences to everyone involved; how one catastrophic event can change so many lives on so many levels. I can't say enough about this book. I highly recommend it.

There are many layers of things to think about in this book as well as great word images. All the characters and events were very believable. Those with daughters the age of Nina (15)thought the author had depicted her very well. But all of us, grandparents as well as those without children, really enjoyed the book, even those who were initially put off by the book starting out with the death of Nina's 4 year old brother when she is 11.

There is a character, an older male, known to the family, who works at gradually seducing Nina. It would be a great book to give to a 15 year old and the parents of teens as a way of safely looking at how the older male manipulates Nina. But there's also a lot to think about regarding the effects of grief (in this case from the loss of another child) and how families do or do not communicate. There's friendship, body image, being good at something ( how Nina feels when she's in ballet class is marvelous).

We had a great discussion!

This is the type of book that would be great for a book club. There is a lot to think about and discuss. I love the idea of exploring adolescence which I have particularly enjoyed in the books "What's Eating Gilbert Grape" and "Prep". I think the plot was masterfully tied together and the ending seemed fitting for the characters. Hassinger also has a unique way of making the reader understand what leads people to unravel, how selfishness can affect so many people. The beginning of the book begins with an obvious tragic loss, but the ending of it shows how there are these series of small losses in our lives that don't measure up to say, the loss of a child, but affect us in monumental ways.

I loved this book. READ IT!