Mercy's Birds - Softcover

Holeman, Linda

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0887764630 ISBN 13: 9780887764639

Publisher: Tundra Books, 1998

Synopsis

"Learning to accept help can be the hardest lesson of all." Mercy doesn't have your average family, but it's the only one she's ever known. She, her mother Pearl, and her aunt Moo move from one falling-down rental house to another. Somehow they've always managed to get by, but lately things seem to be spinning out of control. Why is Pearl growing smaller, saying less and less as she retreats to the security of her bedroom? Why is her aunt growing larger and noisier as she reads fortunes in teacups and tarot cards and palms? And while Mercy tries to keep up at school and with her job, she lives in fear of the day Barry, Moo's boyfriend, comes back to live with them all.

About this title

Review:

"The novel deals with issues of poverty, depression, suicide, molestation, and alcoholism with delicacy, but without glossing over the harsh realities."
-School Library Journal

"Holeman addresses poverty, abuse, and depression with compassion and a perceptive eye. Eloquent and impacting, Mercy's story is an engrossing one, charged with emotional depth."
-Booklist

"Holeman's depiction of Mercy's inner life feels real, and many of the scenes are charged, while steering clear of melodrama. I was touched by Mercy's Birds and I think a lot of teenagers will be too."
-Quill & Quire

"This novel is layered with imagery, drama, and an understanding of the painful emotions associated with life in an abusive and alcoholic situation...Award-winning novelist Linda Holeman has written a powerful novel that...features a strong and indomitable heroine."
-Canadian Book Review Annual

About the Author:

Born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Linda Holeman had always dreamed of becoming an author. Her first writing success came when she was in grade 5. A story she had written was aired on the CBC radio program "Story Broadcast Journal" and she still has a copy of the booklet it was published in.

Her career has included stints as a classroom and resource teacher and an adult workshop instructor. Her first published work as an adult was a collection of short stories called Saying Good-bye in 1995. She is the author of Frankie on the Run, a picture book and Flying to Yellow and The Devil's Darning Needle, two collections of short stories for adults. Her fiction and non-fiction pieces have appeared in numerous anthologies.

Both Promise Song, her first young adult novel and Mercy's Birds, her second, were selected for Books for the Teen Age lists by The New York Public Library. Her third YA novel, Raspberry House Blues, was published in Fall 2000 to excellent reviews. All three novels feature strong female teen protagonists and have been praised for the true representation of character, and especially, dialogue. Search of the Moon King's Daughter is a new work of historical fiction, already being well received. Linda Holeman lives in Winnipeg.

About this edition

• Publisher: Tundra Books
• Publication date: 1998
• ISBN 10: 0887764630
• ISBN 13: 9780887764639
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 144