Notes on a Near-Life Experience
Publisher
Delacorte Press
Publication Year
2007
ISBN
9780385733700
Pages
257 pages
Genre
realism
Format
novel
Item Type
Fiction
Annotation
Mia never thought she'd be the child of a broken home. Yet when she's 15 years old, one day her father just up and moves out. As her family life crumbles, her love life is finally coming together. Julian, her brother Allen's best friend and her longtime crush, has finally noticed her—and being with Julian makes her happier than she can put into words. Meanwhile, her mother has disappeared into work, her brother is skipping school and acting weird, and her father is cohabitating with a frighteningly sexy Peruvian woman named Paloma. Mia wishes the divorce would just go away so she could focus on Julian...but she can't ignore her problems forever. In this honest, witty, utterly accessible winner of the Delacorte Press Contest, first-time author Olivia Birdsall creates an authentic and lovable teenager in Mia.
Grade Level
6-8; 9-12
Diversity Topics
Family Relationships; Separation; Divorce; divorced parents; separate homes
Main Character
girl
Race/Ethnicities
White
Family Formation
divorced parents
Awards
Delacorte Press Prize for a First Young Adult Novel, 2005, 1st Place
Keywords
father dating; crush; love interest; feelings; friendship
Diversity Impact
direct
STARS Citation
Birdsall, Olivia, "Notes on a Near-Life Experience" (2007). Diverse Families. 1074.
https://stars.library.ucf.edu/diversefamilies/1074