Reading and Discussion of “Alice Bliss” by Laura Harrington: April 4, 7:00 – 8:30 p.m.
POSTED BY: Lisa Kent
Reading and Discussion of Alice Bliss by Laura Harrington
April 4, 2012, 7:00 – 8:30 p.m.
Nance Assembly Room
Refreshments available in support of Rancho Santa Fe, Honduras
We are very pleased to welcome Laura Harrington, Gloucester author and former GUS parent (Kate Harrington-Rosen ’04), to read from and discuss her novel Alice Bliss, and we invite all parents in the GUS community to attend. Also, we believe the novel presents a singular sharing opportunity for our upper school parents and their teens, so we invite interested 7th and 8th grade students to read the book and join the discussion.
In Alice Bliss, Harrington treats with insight and candor a teenager’s first encounters with some mature and challenging life experiences and also her impetuous exploration of some mature behaviors. We urge parents to read and share the book with their sons and daughters. Alternatively, parents may wish to preview the book or consult Sydney Clarke, Jeffrey Bartsch, or Gretchen Forsyth with any questions about the content.
A limited number of copies can be checked out of the GUS library. The book is available at Beverly Farms Book Shop and other local stores, or you can order a copy from Joanne Crerand in the library (ext. 133 or jcrerand@gus.org) before March 2nd.
Praise for Alice Bliss
- Included in Best Books of 2011 by the School Library Journal in the category “Adult Books for Teens.”
- “Heartbreaking yet edged with promise, Alice Bliss explores the wounds of war, love, and family bonds while illuminating the strength of a young girl’s spirit. A stunning debut.” Beth Hoffman, author of Saving CeeCee Honeycutt.
Novel description
When Alice learns that her father, Matt Bliss, is being deployed to Iraq she’s heartbroken. Alice idolizes her dad, working beside him in their garden, accompanying him on the occasional roofing job, playing baseball. After Matt ships out, her mother begins to crumble under the pressure of suddenly being a single parent and Alice struggles to fill the void as she balances the drama of adolescence with the effort of keeping her family together.
Alice Bliss is a profoundly moving coming-of-age novel about love and its many variations: the support of a small town looking after its own; love between an absent father and his daughter; complicated love between an adolescent girl and her mother; and an exploration of friendship and new love with the boy-next-door. These characters’ struggles amidst uncertain times echo our own, lending the novel an immediacy and poignancy that is both relevant and real. At once universal and very personal, Alice Bliss is a transforming story about those who are left at home during wartime, and a teenage girl bravely facing the future.