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<![CDATA[Pennsylvania author Linda Oatman High's newest book is
"Sister Slam and the Poetic Motormouth Road Trip," a young
adult novel released by Bloomsbury on April 7th. Hailed by
Publisher's Weekly as "an ultra-hip Cinderella tale," the
spoken-word novel, written in an edgy hip-hip verse, was
chosen as a "Quick Pick" by the American Library
Association, and has gone into a second printing with
Bloomsbury. Linda Oatman High will be signing the book at
the Pennsylvania School Librarians Association conference
in Hershey on April 30th, as well as at various venues
throughout the summer.
Patty Campbell, in a review on amazon.com, said this about
the book:
Told in the jagged rhythms of rap, with unexpected rhymes
and frenetic energy, Sister Slam is a soul sister to
Francesca Lia Block's Weetzie Bat. Hip but innocent, sharp
but sweet, fresh out of high school in Banesville,
Pennsylvania, plump Laura Crapper and her skinny friend
Twig ("an indie-goth-hippie chick like me") set out in
their '69 Firebird for the Sixth Annual Tin Can, New Jersey
Poetry Slam: "We'll be driving/ into the so-cool/ School of
Real Life./ The College Of Reality!/ The University/ of
Gray Road, Blue Sky,/ and Yellow Lines," exults Twig. As a
mark of the importance of the occasion Laura chooses a new
name "so hot it sizzled/ and blistered your fingers/ like
Crisco-fried ham./ My new name was: Sister Slam!" In Tin
Can the new poets bomb when the subject of Sister's angry
poem turns out to be one of the judges. And like all road
trips, this one has its bad moments (their car is totaled
by a collision with a Mustang) and its wild surprises (the
driver turns out to be a hunky guy named Jake with "avocado-
hotto eyes"). A spontaneous performance at a restaurant
catapults the two poets into fame on the slam circuit, with
success beyond their dreams as they rant onstage in thrift
store chic--until real life intervenes. Teen slammers will
snap their fingers along with Twig and Sister in this
lighthearted and innovative verse novel.
See www.lindaoatmanhigh.com for more info.]]> |
