The Amazing "True" Story of a Teenage Single Mom - Hardcover

Arnoldi, Katherine

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0786864206 ISBN 13: 9780786864201

Publisher: Hyperion Books, 1998

Synopsis

Poignant cartoons and unsparing text combine to tell the true story of Katherine Arnoldi, a seventeen-year-old girl left pregnant after a date rape, who remains determined to keep her baby and get an education, despite a series of harrowing obstacles. 30,000 first printing.

About this title

From the Author

Recent Reviews:
I made this graphic novel/memoir for three reasons: to honor the heroism of single moms, to help encourage single moms to pursue their equal rights to education, and to share my own struggle to find the way to college. Thank you for your interest: help a single mom today! Hey! It's a cartoon book: scary, funny, ironic, tear-jerking, full of chills and thrills, darkness and inspiration. It's a story of love. It's been nominated for the Will Eisner Comic Industry Award (winner to be announced in August).

REVIEWS:

6/99: MS. magazine:"Katherine Arnoldi: Single Mom Super Hero"

4/99: BUST magazine #12: "This book is beautiful, accessible and soulful"--Meg Weber.

4/99: AMERICAN BOOK REVIEW: "Dada at Midnight"---Jim Feast

2/17/99: THE NEW YORK TIMES: "A Mother: Young, Single and Heroic"--David Gonzalez

2/99: HIP MAMA: "If you are a teen mom or abuse survivor, it is a must read" --Ariel Gore

1/28/99 TONY ISABELLA'S ONLINE CARTOON REVIEW: "I ended up voting it as my favorite graphic novel in the CBG Fan Awards. Yep, it's that good."

1/28/99: THE STAR LEDGER: "Reaching for the Stars: An Author Uses Her Story to Inspire Other Single Moms"---Mark McGarrity

12/25/98 ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY BEST OF 1998: The Amazing True Story of a Teenage Single Mom was choosen as the tenth best book: "Not only did she beat back a grim fate, but the bright, redemptive way she shares her story is proof that one evocative line drawing can be worth a thousand points of psychobabble. If you're looking for a good cleansing cry--and a book that actually makes you think about the world instead of just escaping it--this is the year's best."

12/21/98: NEW YORK magazine: "In Print: Singled Out": "...the scary, funny, ultimately heroic story of Arnoldi's struggle to make a happy life out of a very raw deal."---Ariel Levy

12/14/98: AUSTIN CHRONICLE: "I can only attribute the hot tears I shed while reading it to the power of Arnoldi's moving, triumphant story."---Roseana Auten

12/98: REDBOOK: "Here's the real thing: A superhero whose magic cape is faith." ---Dawn Raffel

12/98 SEVENTEEN: "It's a refreshingly nonlecturely picture of what it's really like to be a teen mom."

11/18/98: CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR: "A Teen Mom's Path Out of Abuse" ---Marilyn Gardener

11/98 ASSOCIATED PRESS: "Single Mother Turns to Cartoons to Tell Story, Help Others"---Jill Prillick

11/98 ELLE magazine:"Me and My Baby: "Arnoldi displays grit and compassion that would be admirable in any situation, and that becomes wondrous given the harem-scarum circumstances of her painful but ultimately fruitful life."---Lisa Shea

9/18/98 ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: "That's how poignant, immediate, and good it is: pictorial autobiography, redemptive fable, and purest testimony to the strength of motherly love." ---AJ

9/98: MS. magazine: "This memoir in cartoon form is fast-paced, moving and entertaining."

8/17/98 PUBLISHER'S WEEKLY: "Teen Mom Finds Voice, Writes Book": "Writing in affecting, straightfoward prose and drawing with an awkward but powerful, child-like simplicity..."---Calvin Reid

From the Inside Flap

In a form usually reserved for superheroes conquering universes, The Amazing "True" Story of a Teenage Single Mom tells of a young, poor mom with a simple dream: She wants to go to college. To get there, she'll need superhuman stamina, impossible good luck, a few miracles and, spurred by deep down love for her child, the ability to evade monsters, overcome abuse, and choose hope, faith, and the possibilities of her great expectations. These expectations take her from the not-so-warm embrace of her family, to a factory job, and then across the country with her daughter and a man who turns out to be a great deal less than her knight in shining armor. But that is not the end of the story. It is in the telling of this fable/memoir that we see the full scope of her courage.

About this edition

• Publisher: Hyperion Books
• Publication date: 1998
• ISBN 10: 0786864206
• ISBN 13: 9780786864201
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 192