A Kirkus “Best Teen Books of 2011″
“Brezenoff lets readers take the reins, recasting and reimagining the lead roles as often as they like. For readers with little use for labels, it’s an intimate yet wonderfully open rock ‘n’ roll love story.” —Publishers Weekly, starred review
“A lyrical, understated punk-kid love song to Brooklyn and to chosen family. . . . Overall, the tone is as raw, down-to-earth and transcendent as the music Scout and Kid ultimately make together.” —Kirkus Reviews, starred review
When you’re sixteen and no one understands who you are, sometimes the only choice left is to run. If you’re lucky, you find a place that accepts you, no questions asked. And if you’re really lucky, that place has a drum set, a place to practice, and a place to sleep. For Kid, the streets of Greenpoint, Brooklyn, are that place. Over the course of two scorching summers, Kid falls hopelessly in love and then loses nearly everything and everyone worth caring about. But as summer draws to a close, Kid finally finds someone who can last beyond the sunset.
Advance praise for Brooklyn, Burning:
“Brooklyn, Burning is a masterful novel that made my heart ache. Everything in the book lives–the streets of Brooklyn, the enchanting characters, and the struggle of gender and love. Brezenoff has drawn us a brilliant reminder that acceptance is only a smile away and innocence has many forms. Through flawless writing and a genius structure, this novel will make you sit down and take notice.”
-A.S. King, author of Please Ignore Vera Dietz, a Printz Honor book
“Steve Brezenoff’s gorgeous, sad, and hopeful Brooklyn, Burning is a love letter to Brooklyn, a love letter to music booming from the basement, and most of all, a love letter to every kind of love (but especially the punk rock kind). <3.”
-Bennett Madison, author of The Blonde of the Joke
“A gritty but nuanced story of two years in the life of a street kid whose world veers from dream to nightmare and back again. Like Brooklyn in the summer, Brezenoff’s book is hot and intense.”
-Ellen Wittlinger, award-winning author of Hard Love and Parrotfish
“This is a beautiful book—big-hearted and tough; clear-eyed and brave. The prose reads insistent as a song, breaking the heart again and again and again.”
-Kelly Barnhill, author of The Mostly True Story of Jack
“Steve Brezenoff’s Brooklyn, Burning tackles the kind of difficult question that only the novel can: what will we do with all the unwanted talent and rejected love in the world, and how will the kids (and the Kids) cope when they find out they’re wanted after all? What happens when kids are loaded up with far more than anyone should have to bear, and they bear it, and go on? Like any good novel, it’s one particular, memorable, answer in a form so vivid it will stay with you forever.”
-John Barnes, author of Tales of the Madman Underground, a Printz Honor book
Download a discussion guide (mild spoilers)
Coming September 2011, from Carolrhoda Lab