Hand Me Down: A Novel (Paperback)

Hand Me Down: A Novel By Melanie Thorne Cover Image

Hand Me Down: A Novel (Paperback)

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A Kirkus Reviews Best Fiction Book of 2012

Hand Me Down, which recalls the gritty power of Dorothy Allison's Bastard Out of Carolina, is fiction with the ring of truth.” –San Jose Mercury News

Fourteen-year-old Elizabeth Reid has spent her life protecting her sister, Jaime, from their parents’ cruel mistakes and broken promises. When their mother chooses her second husband and their new family over raising her firstborn girls, Elizabeth and Jaime are separated and risk losing the shelter of each other. Hand Me Down indelibly captures a contemporary family journey--how two young people, against incredible odds, forge lives of their own in the face of an uncertain future.
 Melanie Thorne earned her MA from University of California-Davis, where she was awarded the Alva Englund Fellowship and the Maurice Prize in Fiction. She lives in northern California.
Product Details ISBN: 9780452298859
ISBN-10: 0452298857
Publisher: Plume
Publication Date: March 26th, 2013
Pages: 336
Language: English
“A sad, compelling read.” -People

“Melanie Thorne's debut novel is raw with emotion as she describes Liz's often futile efforts to protect her sister and herself from the predator their mother has invited into their lives. It is often hard to remember that this is, in fact, a novel and not a memoir… Thorne's novel is an eye-opener… she leaves the reader haunted by a nagging question: What happens to the children who are not so lucky?” -Associated Press

“Thorne sounds utterly liberated as she describes the merits of exploring fact through fiction… With the clear-eyed honesty of a Daniel Woodrell or Bonnie Jo Campbell character, Liz describes the pain of being a young person among careless, thrill-seeking men and hardworking, wounded women.” -San Francisco Chronicle

“Hand Me Down, which recalls the gritty power of Dorothy Allison's Bastard Out of Carolina, is fiction with the ring of truth.” -San Jose Mercury News

“The novel’s adolescent perspective is sure to find popularity with YA audiences.” -Library Journal