Being Fishkill

by Ruth Lehrer

Overview

Fishkill Carmel fends for herself, with her fists if need be — until a thwarted lunch theft introduces her to strange, sunny Duck-Duck and a chance for a new start.

Born in the backseat of a moving car, Carmel Fishkill was unceremoniously pushed into a world that refuses to offer her security, stability, love. At age thirteen, she begins to fight back. Carmel Fishkill becomes Fishkill Carmel, who deflects her tormenters with a strong left hook and conceals her secrets from teachers and social workers. But Fishkill’s fierce defenses falter when she meets eccentric optimist Duck-Duck Farina, and soon they, along with Duck-Duck’s mother, Molly, form a tentative family, even as Fishkill struggles to understand her place in it. This fragile new beginning is threatened by the reappearance of Fishkill’s unstable mother — and by unfathomable tragedy. Poet Ruth Lehrer’s young adult debut is a stunning, revelatory look at what defines and sustains “family.” And, just as it does for Fishkill, meeting Duck-Duck Farina and her mother will leave readers forever changed.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780763684426
Publisher:	Candlewick Press
Publication date:	11/14/2017
Pages:	320
Product dimensions:	5.70(w) x 8.10(h) x 1.20(d)
Age Range:	14 - 17 Years

About the Author

Ruth Lehrer is a poet, author, and American Sign Language interpreter. She lives in the woods of western Massachusetts.

Editorial Reviews

09/18/2017
In Lehrer’s engrossing first novel, 12-year-old Carmel Fishkill (named after a highway exit sign her mother, Keely, glimpsed while giving birth in the back seat of a car) decides that starting seventh grade in a new school is an opportunity to toughen up her image, now that her abusive grandfather is dead and her drug-addicted mother has vanished. Starting with a name reversal, Carmel becomes dangerous Fishkill, but her plan is thrown off course when precocious but equally tough Duck-Duck Farina befriends her. Flashbacks to the poverty and neglect Fishkill endured with her grandfather (there are strong hints that he is actually Fishkill’s father) and mother sharply contrast with Duck-Duck’s affectionate relationship with her nurturing gay mother and their well-kept home, into which Fishkill is welcomed. The sexual identities of Duck-Duck’s mother and Fishkill, who grows attracted to Duck-Duck, are simply an understated part of the story’s backdrop. The plot, as well as Duck-Duck and Fishkill’s friendship, twists and turns as Keely reappears and disappears, until a tragic development changes the entire tone of the book, providing a bittersweet resolution. Ages 14–up. (Nov.)

Publishers Weekly

A desperately sad story of profound abuse is softened somewhat by the highly intelligent Duck-Duck and her loving mother. But neither love nor grief is linear. Fishkill's guilt, anger, and abandonment only intensify as the story unfolds, leaving her desperate and unsure where to turn...Abuse is eclipsed by love in this moving novel.
—Kirkus Reviews

Lehrer pulls at heartstrings in her thought-provoking debut...a complex and well-plotted work.
—Booklist

In Lehrer’s engrossing first novel, 12-year-old Carmel Fishkill (named after a highway exit sign her mother, Keely, glimpsed while giving birth in the back seat of a car) decides that starting seventh grade in a new school is an opportunity to toughen up her image...The plot, as well as Duck-Duck and Fishkill’s friendship, twists and turns as Keely reappears and disappears, until a tragic development changes the entire tone of the book, providing a bittersweet resolution.
—Publishers Weekly

Lehrer’s debut is well written and touches upon tough subjects such as bullying, abuse, and teen pregnancy in a lyrical but age-appropriate way. Fishkill lives a hard life, but the book speaks to how schools and institutions handle students in poverty. A great purchase for public libraries.
—School Library Journal

The deep sadness undergirding this story is held in check, rhetorically speaking, by Fishkill’s matter-of-fact, survivalist perspective and a fast-moving plot...Fans of Catherine Ryan Hyde’s rescue dramas are the audience for this.
—Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books

In the year’s most heartwarming, heartbreaking teen novel, Carmel Fishkill – who’s been abused for years – decides to reinvent herself and change her name to Fishkill Carmel. After she finally finds some solace, her unstable mother reappears.
—Entertainment Weekly

Poet Lehrer’s YA debut is a beautifully written and authentic look at rural poverty, and a great choice for fans of Kody Keplinger’s Run and Sarah Nicole Lemon’s Done Dirt Cheap.
—B&N Teen Blog

From the Publisher

10/01/2017
Gr 6–10—Thirteen-year-old Fishkill Carmel has reinvented herself. She will no longer allow herself to be picked on, made fun of, or go hungry. She takes food from her classmates, but she gets more than she bargained for when she tries to take Duck-Duck Farina's lunch. Duck-Duck is fearless and adds Fishkill to her "gang" the GR. Soon Fishkill and Duck-Duck are inseparable and Fishkill's secrets start to come out. The protagonist has been on her own for months, thinking she killed her mother. Fishkill has kept this secret hidden, but finally tells Duck-Duck and eventually her mother, Molly. Molly immediately takes in Fishkill and begins to treat her like she's her own daughter. Just as Fishkill starts to feel comfortable in her life, junior high cliques and the sudden reappearance of Keely ruin everything. This is a difficult and devastating book to get through. Lehrer's debut is well written and touches upon tough subjects such as bullying, abuse, and teen pregnancy in a lyrical but age-appropriate way. Fishkill lives a hard life, but the book speaks to how schools and institutions handle students in poverty. VERDICT A great purchase for public libraries.—Faythe Arredondo, Tulare County Library, CA

School Library Journal

2017-08-02
Born in the back seat of a car and named for a road sign, Carmel Fishkill's first 12 years of life are filled with neglect and abuse. After her grandfather's death and her mother's disappearance, she decides to refashion her image by switching her name and becoming Fishkill. She begins using violence to intimidate other students into giving her food. But when she tries her tactics on a new girl who calls herself Duck-Duck, she finds she has met her match and made a new friend. When Duck-Duck's mother, Molly, presses her for details about her home life, Fishkill reluctantly admits that she has been living alone for months. Molly tries to help, but the reappearance of Fishkill's mother, Keely, complicates everything. Keely is erratic, dangerous, and immature, but when Duck-Duck begins shunning Fishkill in favor of the popular girls, she might be her only option. A desperately sad story of profound abuse is softened somewhat by the highly intelligent Duck-Duck and her loving mother. But neither love nor grief is linear. Fishkill's guilt, anger, and abandonment only intensify as the story unfolds, leaving her desperate and unsure where to turn. The characters seem to be default white, with diversity limited to the sexual orientation of some key characters. Abuse is eclipsed by love in this moving novel. (Fiction. 14-18)

Kirkus Reviews