Mosquitoland
'Sparkling, startling, laugh-out-loud' Wall Street Journal
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5.0 • 2 Ratings
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- £3.99
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- £3.99
Publisher Description
A story of the difficulties we face and the strength we find to overcome them, perfect for fans of LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE, THE FAULT IN OUR STARS, and JUNO.
'At last, a Kerouacian adventure for teenage girls' INDEPENDENT
When her parents unexpectedly divorce, Mim Malone is dragged from her beloved home in Ohio to the 'wastelands' of Mississippi, where she lives in a haze of medication with her dad and new (almost certainly evil) stepmom.
But when Mim learns her real mother is ill back home, she escapes her new life and embarks on a rescue mission aboard a Greyhound bus, meeting an assortment of quirky characters along the way.
And when her thousand-mile journey takes a few turns she could never see coming, Mim must confront her own demons, redefining her notions of love, loyalty, and what it means to be sane...
Praise for Mosquitoland:
'A funny, gutsy, straight-talking heroine with a distinctive voice, whose company is a blast of fresh air'
DAILY MAIL
'A joy'
INDEPENDENT, Best YA novels of 2015
'Fresh and often very endearing'
SUNDAY HERALD
'Heartwarming, heartbreaking and hilarious'
USA TODAY
'[A] sparkling, startling, laugh-out-loud debut novel'
WALL STREET JOURNAL
'[A] captivating first novel... illuminating'
WASHINGTON POST
'[A novel that] bucks the usual classifications and stands defiantly alone'
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Newcomer Arnold's protagonist, 16-year-old Mim Malone, is as hold-nothing-back honest as they come, which makes the narrative she provides about her outlandish trek from Mississippi to Cleveland wholly enjoyable. Mim, blind in one eye from a solar eclipse and suffering from a "misplaced epiglottis" that results in unpredictable spells of vomiting, is reeling from her parents' divorce and an unclear psychiatric diagnosis when she is dragged to Mississippi by her father and new stepmother. Determined to get back to her mother, Mim hops a bus to Cleveland, beginning an Odysseus-like adventure that introduces a delightfully eclectic cast of characters, who are made all the more memorable by Mim's descriptions ("I've only known two other Carls in my lifetime an insurgent moonshiner and a record store owner both of whom taught me important... life lessons. In my book, Carls are a top-notch species"). There is no shortage of humor in Mim's musings, interspersed with tender scenes and a few heart-pounding surprises. Mim's triumphant evolution is well worth the journey. Ages 12 up.
