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Upstate (Alex Awards (Awards))
 
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Upstate (Alex Awards (Awards)) (Hardcover)

by Kalisha Buckhanon (Author)
4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)

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Product details

  • Hardcover: 256 pages
  • Publisher: St. Martin's Press (23 Dec 2004)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0312332688
  • ISBN-13: 978-0312332686
  • Product Dimensions: 18.8 x 13.5 x 2.5 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)

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Product Description

Sapphire, author of 'Push'

'Wild and beautiful ... told using the epistolary form with brilliant skill not seen since 'The Color Purple' --This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.

Review

'Wow! Just wow! Very occasionally you come across a book that is not just something to while away a couple of hours, but something you know is beyond entertainment. It's important, gut-wrenching and possibly the best insight into the mentality of an American teenage culture ... a book that's impossible to forget' (Daily Record 20050401)

‘Raw, tender and emotional, every word of this accomplished debut rings painfully and beautifully true’. (Sainsbury’s Magazine 20050630)

‘A raw account of divided love’. (B Magazine 20050630)

‘The street-smart language often crackles’. (Marie Claire 20050630)

'A touching tale ... Kalisha Buckhanon triumphs' (Big Issue 20050630)

‘Last year’s must-read in the USA … an interesting glimpse into young Black America and the realities of life within the US penal system’ (Sunday Times Travel Magazine 20050630)

'UPSTATE packs a swift, head-clearing emotional punch. The language is urban, urgent, and possessing a poetry uniquely its own' (Elle 20050630)

'UPSTATE starts out strong and never lets go ... it moved me to tears' (Chicago Tribune 20050630)

‘While the beauty of this novel is in the lyricism of the writing, the innovative format that Kalisha uses to tell the story is just as captivating.’ (New Nation, Andrea Enisuoh. 20050314)

‘A moving debut ... Kalisha Buckhanon, by structuring her story in the epistolatory form, gives it an intimacy and urgency that the best tales always have.’ (Independent on Sunday )

'A heartbreaker of a love story'

(New York Daily News )

'A heartbreaker of a love story'

(People )

'A heartbreaker of a love story'

(Big Issue )

'A heartbreaker of a love story'

(Chiacago Tribune )

'Heartbreaking and true ... I'd read it again just for the power of the language'

(Dorothy Allison, author of 'Bastard Out of Carolin )

'Wild and beautiful ... told using the epistolary form with brilliant skill not seen since 'The Color Purple'

(Sapphire, author of 'Push' )

'The young black urban experience is stunningly captured in this spare, moving first novel'

(Toronto Sun ) --This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.
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Customer Reviews

3 Reviews
5 star:
 (2)
4 star:
 (1)
3 star:    (0)
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Average Customer Review
4.7 out of 5 stars (3 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
5.0 out of 5 stars Courtesy of Teens Read Too, 17 Nov 2006
By TeensReadToo "Eat. Drink. Read. Be Merrier." (All Over the US & Canada) - See all my reviews
(TOP 100 REVIEWER)   
This review is from: Upstate (Paperback)
UPSTATE is a powerful, moving story told in the form of letters written by Antonio and Natasha, two Harlem teens who are seventeen and sixteen years old, respectively, when the story starts. The first letter is from Antonio to his girlfriend Natasha, written from jail, asking if she believes what everyone else does: that Antonio murdered his father.

No matter what Natasha believes or what the truth is about what happened on that night, Antonio is convicted of the crime and goes to a prison in upstate New York (hence the title), sentenced to ten years. Ten years of just struggling to survive, clinging to his letters from Natasha, his lifeline even if they can't, realistically, be together forever, no matter what they believe as optimistic teenagers when Antonio first goes to jail. Natasha, on the other had, isn't having an easy time of growing up and becoming a real adult. She's facing tough choices, probably almost as desperate for the next letter as Antonio.

This is an emotional story, a love story, but a real one, not a happily-ever-after, "no problems whatsoever" story like a Disney movie. The characters in UPSTATE are just as real as the story, and Antonio's and Natasha's authentic voices are a great addition to this novel.

Usually, I am not a big fan of novels written in letter form (or e-mail or instant message form, as is sometimes now the case), but Kalisha Buckhanon's novel is certainly an exception to that. It is very well-written, with believable characters that make this story what it is: fantastic.

Reviewed by: Jocelyn Pearce
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5.0 out of 5 stars Heartbreaking..., 14 April 2006
By DevJohn01 (Somerset, NJ) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)   
This review is from: Upstate (Hardcover)
Have you ever read a book that was so good it left you speechless? Well, if not I urge you to pick up this outstanding debut novel from Kalisha Buckhanon. 'UPSTATE' is told in a series of correspondence between sixteen year-old Natasha and seventeen year-old Antonio, young lovers who are torn apart when Antonio goes to jail for the murder of his father. Their letters span a decade in which time, while they seem to grow worlds apart no love is ever lost between these two soul mates.

I loved the way that the language in the letters between Natasha and Antonio progressed over the years which told a story in and of itself. I also very much admired the fact that Kalisha Buckhanon didn't leave Natasha stagnant while Antonio was locked up, that she allowed her to grow, evolve and literally become the best person that she could. I also admired the fact that Antonio attempted to do the same from prison. Whether his motivating force was Natasha or just for his own personal betterment he knew the kind of man he wanted to be when he got out of prison and took the necessary steps to become that man.

When I closed this book on Antonio's final letter to Natasha I cried, not a soft whimper, but actually cried because my heart ached for these two people and for that I must give credit to Ms. Buckhanon for creating such realistic characters that one can completely relate to. However, as much as my heart broke for Natasha and Antonio I was also uplifted to see what intelligent and mature adults they turned out to be. While life may not always turn out the way we expect, that doesn't mean we don't get our happy ending. I cannot reccomend this book enough and if I could give it more than five stars I truly would.
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4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent!, 14 April 2005
By A Customer
I read this book in one day as I could not put it down. It follows the story of Natasha & Antonio after he his sent to prison in their letters to each other. It is a modern day love story cast against the gritty realism of life in prision and being poor and from a broken home in New York. I hope She soon writes more!
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