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WORK TITLE: We Are All That’s Left
WORK NOTES:
PSEUDONYM(S):
BIRTHDATE:
WEBSITE: http://carriearcos.com
CITY: Eagle Rock
STATE: CA
COUNTRY: United States
NATIONALITY: American
RESEARCHER NOTES:
PERSONAL
Born in Albany, NY; married; children: two sons, one daughter.
EDUCATION:Holds a master’s degree.
ADDRESS
CAREER
Writer, novelist, and educator. Writing instructor at the college level. Americorps, immigrant assistant and English instructor, 1995-96. Worked variously as a high school English teacher and cross country/track coach, tutor, citizenship instructor, sandwich designer, and camp director.
MEMBER:Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators.
AWARDS:National Book Award finalist, 2012, for Out of Reach.
WRITINGS
Contributor to periodicals, including Signature.
SIDELIGHTS
Carrie Arcos is a writer, novelist, and educator based Eagle Rock, California, a community in the northeast area of Los Angeles. Originally from Albany, New York, she noted on the Carrie Arcos website that “people tell me I feel more East coast than West. What they are trying to politely say is that I at times exhibit the New Yorker sass or attitude. This is fine by me.”
She has worked in various positions, including as a camp director, a citizenship instructor, a sandwich designer, and a high school English teacher. She also coached cross country and track at urban schools. She has also been a teacher at the college level. For a year from 1995 to 1996, she worked with AmeriCorps, “a program that was basically a domestic peace program under Clinton,” she stated in an interview with Lynda Comerford in Publishers Weekly. During her tenure there, she worked with the Catholic Charities Immigration and Refugee Services in Somerville, Massachusetts. There, she helped immigrants get resettled by assisting with apartment searches, school enrollment for children, and finding necessities such as furniture.
During her time with AmeriCorps, she encountered a significant number of Bosnian refugees. “Working with the Bosnians had a huge effect on me. I’d been really naïve, having spent the last four years at a small New England college kind of tucked away from the world. I’d heard about the Bosnian conflict but I hadn’t known about the genocide. When I started meeting the families and hearing their stories, I just couldn’t believe it.” Her experiences and observations while helping the Bosnian refugees later found a place in her fiction, particularly in the novel We Are All That’s Left.
Out of Reach
In Arcos’s first novel, Out of Reach, protagonist Rachel Stevens, sixteen years old, has to deal with the fallout from her older brother Micah’s methamphetamine addiction. Micah had been a talented guitarist with the potential for a career in music, but his addiction to crystal meth turned him into a liar, a thief, and a burned-out shell of his former self. Rachel is stunned and devastated when Micah leaves home with no warming and with no word about where he is headed or when (or if) he’ll be back. Her anxiety for him becomes even more intense when she receives an anonymous email message warning her that Micah is in deep trouble. The message also gives a clue about her brother’s whereabouts. Determined to find Micah, or at least to discover what happened to him, Rachel enlists the help of Tyler, a former bandmate of Micah’s, to help in the search. As Rachel and Tyler search some of the seedier and more dangerous parts of local neighborhoods, she has to confront unpleasant truths about her brother and the addiction that is destroying him.
“Rachel’s pursuit enlightens readers about the patterns and hazards of meth addiction, as well as the destruction of the family left behind,” noted a Kirkus Reviews writer. The “core strength of this book is the convincing narrative it weaves about the complex nature of drug addiction as it affects families,” observed Voice of Youth Advocates contributor Christina Fairman. Diane Colson, writing in Booklist, noted that “teens affected by drug use may see their own experiences reflected in Rachel’s story.”
There Will Come a Time
Mark Santos, the seventeen-year-old main character of There Will Come a Time, struggles to come to terms with his twin sister Grace’s death in an automobile accident where he was behind the wheel. The accident was not his fault, but he is wracked with intense guilt and grief over what happened. The only comfort he can find is in visiting and revisiting the bridge that was the accident site, even though he knows it is emotionally unhealthy to do so.
When Grace’s best friend Hanna realizes the terrible pain that Mark is feeling, she suggests that the two of them work to fulfill Grace’s list of “Top Five Things to Do This Year,” which she left in one of her private journals. Reluctant at first, Mark eventually agrees to the plan as a way to honor Grace’s memory, even though some of the activities make him uncomfortable. At the same time, he begins to discover new and unexpected feeling for Hanna, as well as forgiveness for his estranged mother, the drive of the car that killed Grace, and for himself. Arcos’s “nuanced story presents a close study on how different people react to loss while posing many thorny questions about relationships,” observed Jeanne Fredriksen in a Booklist review.
We Are All That’s Left
We Are All That’s Left is Arcos’s novel about the Bosnian conflict. Seventeen-year-old Zara is the daughter of Nadja, a Bosnian refugee living in Rhode Island. Like many teenagers, Zara doesn’t understand many of the aspects of her mother’s life and behavior. In Zara’s case, the disconnect between mother and daughter is made even worse by the fact that she knows Nadja suffered terribly during the Bosnian war. Nadja has been unwilling to talk about that part of her life, leaving many questions about her experiences unanswered and increasing the width of the gulf between her and Zara. When a terrorist bombing attack at a local farmer’s market leaves Nadja seriously injured and in a coma from which she may not awaken, Zara becomes even more determined to find out about her family’s background and what happened to her mother during the brutal days in Bosnia. As Zara struggles to recover from her own injuries, she discovers first hand how the horrors of war and the violence of terrorism can affect otherwise normal people. Interspersed within the narrative are chapters exploring Nadja’s experiences in Bosnia, where she had to learn to survive after Serbs killed her entire family, where food was scarce and ever-present snipers could snuff out a life with no warning.
A writer in Kirkus Reviews remarked, “this important and timely novel is a painful, lovely exploration of mending a mother-daughter relationship.” A Publishers Weekly reviewer called the story a “multilayered view of tragedy and its repercussions.” Arcos “masterfully shows how teens” in even the most violent and ravaged areas of Bosnia “have the same desires and dreams as twenty-first-century teens, and Zara’s story rings equally true,” commented Diane Colson in a Booklist review.
BIOCRIT
PERIODICALS
Booklist, October 15, 2012, Diane Colson, review of Out of Reach, p. 57; August 1, 2014, Jeanne Fredriksen, review of There Will Come a Time, p. 70; December 1, 2016, Reinhardt Suarez, review of Crazy Messy Beautiful, p. 53; March 15, 2018, Diane Colson, review of We Are All That’s Left, p. 72.
Kirkus Reviews, October 1, 2012, review of Out of Reach; November 15, 2016, review of Crazy Messy Beautiful; March 1, 2018, review of We Are All That’s Left.
Publishers Weekly, November 28, 2016, review of Crazy Messy Beautiful, p. 68; March 12, 2018, review of We Are All That’s Left, p. 61; May 10, 2018, Lynda Comerford, “Q&A with Carrie Arcos.”
School Library Journal, December, 2012, Alissa J. Bach, review of Out of Reach, p. 108; May, 2014, Stephanie Klose, review of There Will Come a Time, p. 123; April, 2018. Brittany Drehobl, review of We Are All That’s Left, p. 128.
Voice of Youth Advocates, June, 2013, Christina Fairman, review of Out of Reach, p. 54.
ONLINE
Carrie Arcos website, http://www.carriearcos.com (July 9, 2018).
Jean Book Nerd, http://www.jeanbooknerd.com/ (July 9, 2018), interview with Carrie Arcos.
Menagerie of Thoughts, http://www.katiesbookblog.com/ (October 14, 2012), interview with Carrie Arcos.
National Book Foundation website, http://www.nationalbook.org/ (July 9, 2018), Sofia Quintero, interview with Carrie Arcos.
About
About
I live in Los Angeles, though I can’t claim myself a native. I’m from Albany, NY–which means I’m Italian and Irish on Dad’s side and English on Mom’s side. And most of the time this information may seem incidental, except that people tell me I feel more East coast than West. What they are trying to politely say is that I at times exhibit the New Yorker sass or attitude. This is fine by me.
I married a handsome Latino man, hence the last name. We have three children: boy, girl, boy. All have curly hair. All want to be artists someday.
I have worked as a sandwich designer, health food connoisseur, tutor, refugee resettler, citizenship instructor, and camp director. But the best job, other than writing, has been that of a teacher. I taught High School English and coached Cross Country and Track for a few years in primarily urban environments, and man, I miss those kids. Although it was always a little rough to get through early American literature because there was a piece we had to read with the word seaman in it. The boys lost it every time.
I ended up getting my masters in English and Creative Writing, which really was an excuse to write. But this eventually allowed me to teach college students. My husband was happy until he realized that there really isn’t any money in it, and I should go back to teaching high school, but not many schools will let you work part-time.
I love teaching college students. They’re kind of like high school students, but older.
I’m represented by the lovely Kerry Sparks of Levine Greenberg Rostan Literary Agency and am a member of SCWBI. I’m also a National Book Award finalist for young people’s literature, which is pretty awesome for my first book! My second book titled There Will Come a Time is set for a release May 6, 2014.
You know when you’ve wanted something for a long time and then it happens? What do you do with that? Say thank you.
Random tidbits:
On food: I don’t let my food touch. I eat one thing at a time. Indian food can be a challenge. Right now I’m embracing a vegetarian phase. Watch Forks over Knives. You’ll understand.
Some books (note, this changes all the time): The Road—a master at work, The Book Thief—for the Jesse Owens incident alone, The Hours because it saved me at a time when I needed saving, Perks of Being a Wallflower—because he gets it, Ender’s Game—didn’t see it coming, Speak—I couldn’t keep it on my shelf in school, The Giver—wonderful, The Martian Chronicles—anything by Ray Bradbury, The Passage—a new one for fun that I got totally swept up in, The Shawl—the potential of writing and story.
Books on Writing/Creativity: If You Want to Write—hands down the best, The War of Art—when you need a good butt kicking, Walking on Water—deep, thought provoking, for when I wished I wrote in the mountains, next to a stream of trickling water
Best Ice cream: Thrifty’s Chocolate Malted Crunch. Only the Thrifty brand.
On coffee: Coffee is not a shake. It should be black with a tiny hint of cream. No sugar, please.
My community: I attend Mosaic, a wonderful community of faith in Los Angeles. I have learned a great deal through my friends there and consider them family.
I am a dancer in my fantasy life. Every now and then when you think I’m listening to you, a dance battle is happening in my head, where I am killing it on the floor.
On the small white lie I’ve been telling for years: I’m really only 5’1¾,” but I tell everyone I’m 5’2”.
Sometimes I let my kids watch more than the hour of TV I tell other moms I only let them watch. Sometimes.
On computers: PC or Mac? Mac of course
I’m allergic to everything, which is why I don’t have pets and why I won’t walk in a Bath and Body Works store.
On high school: I always think of this quote from Oz from Buffy the Vampire Slayer at the end of season three, when they’ve just destroyed the Mayor and saved the world, again.
Oz: We survived.
Buffy: It was one hell of a battle.
Oz: Not the battle. High School.
Q & A with Carrie Arcos
By Lynda Comerford | May 10, 2018
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Carrie Arcos vividly depicts the horrors of the 1990s Bosnian conflict in her new novel, We Are All That’s Left, which parallels the harrowing ordeal of 17-year-old Nadja with a trauma her daughter experiences 25 years later. PW spoke with Arcos about her inspiration for the novel, the process of writing it, and her impressions of Bosnia today.
In the 1990s, you worked with Bosnian refugees in America. Can you talk about your experience and how it influenced the creation of your book?
In the fall of 1995 until the fall of 1996, I was with AmeriCorps, a program that was basically a domestic peace program under Clinton. I was placed with Catholic Charities Immigration and Refugee Services in Somerville, Mass. I had all kinds of duties there, but one of my main ones was helping immigrants get resettled. I worked with a team finding apartments, getting furniture, enrolling kids in school and doing follow-up visits at the schools. I also taught classes in English as a second language and citizenship. There were immigrants from all over, but at the time we had a large influx of Bosnians.
Working with the Bosnians had a huge effect on me. I’d been really naïve, having spent the last four years at a small New England college kind of tucked away from the world. I’d heard about the Bosnian conflict but I hadn’t known about the genocide. When I started meeting the families and hearing their stories, I just couldn’t believe it. There were quite a few refugees my age, and I kept thinking, “They’re no different from me,” and I kept wondering what it would be like if something like that happened to me.
Did you know right then you wanted to write a book about the Bosnian conflict?
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I didn’t know right then because I wasn’t pursuing writing yet. I was still trying to figure out what I wanted to do with my life. It wasn’t until years later when I began writing seriously, that the idea for the book started percolating. I kept circling around it. Then, in the summer of 2014 I was offered a writing residency at Hedgebrook [a retreat for women writers near Seattle], and it was there that the story began germinating. At dinner one night, the other writers and I were talking about the difficulty in relationships between mothers and daughters. Fortunately, I have a very good relationship with my own mother, but many people I know don’t. I started thinking about my book as a mother-daughter story, making a connection between what happens to each of them during their 17th year. “Aha! That’s my structure.” I thought.
Are the main characters of your book based on people you have met or did they spring solely from your imagination?
I’d say it’s kind of a combination. Nadja [the mother] is loosely based on a woman I knew, at least in terms of her appearance.
Was this woman, like the mother in your story, reluctant to talk about the horrors of her past?
She told me some things, but not much. At the time it was still so raw. It was difficult for people to talk about specifics. They would talk about the general situation in Bosnia but weren’t very forthcoming about personal things. I had to learn the personal stories through my research.
What kind of research did you do?
I saw a lot of movies. I read books, especially journalistic accounts and first-person accounts. I got a lot of information from YouTube, too. There are so many clips of the war there. For example, I could see what it was actually like in hospitals back then.
The Bosnian settings of the book are very vividly painted. Have you visited these places? If so, what impressions did they leave?
After doing my research I went to Bosnia with my husband. The plane flew into Sarajevo, and the first thing we noticed going from the airport into the city was how fresh the war still was. There were bullet holes in buildings. There were these big craters in the streets left from bombs and shrapnel, which people had painted red to memorialize. They were called Sarajevo roses.
The people in Bosnia were exactly as I thought they’d be, hospitable and warm. While we were in Sarajevo, we met this amazing couple through our Airbnb. When I was talking to the husband about my book, he said, “You’ve got to talk to my wife! She’s from the same town [Višegrad] where your story starts.” As it turned out, this woman became an amazing contact for me. I even sent her a copy of my book before it was published to make sure I got facts right.
Did you go on to visit Višegrad during your trip?
Yes, and while we were there we got to go through the underground tunnels—now open to the public—which were used as escape routes during the war. Višegrad had a different feel to it than Sarajevo did, though. There were barely any Muslims there. They’d all been driven out. I kept feeling like people were looking at us, wondering what we were doing there. It was a smaller town that didn’t get a lot of outsiders.
While I was in Bosnia, I did notice that there was still some tension there, like there had been a Band-Aid put over the war. There was a man who was tried and convicted for a war crime, and it was like one side of the street was happy he was convicted and the other side was defending him. There’s still some segregation present there, too. Muslims, Croats, and Russian Orthodox students go to school at different times, and there are three presidents representing the three ethnic and religious groups. It was supposed to be a short-term solution after the war, but the model is still being used today.
How was the process of writing the novel different from writing your other books?
It was the same in some senses, but I felt more pressure. I was nervous writing this book; I was taking more of a risk since it’s historic. There was that aspect of wanting to “get it right.” I felt it was a love letter to people I’d met only briefly and I wanted to honor them. I had to dig deeper artistically.
What impact do you hope the book has on readers?
I hope they take away a greater empathy and more openness for people outside their experience. What happens in the book isn’t that different from what’s happening today in Syria and other parts of the world.
What are you working on now?
I just sold another novel, tentatively called Sky Watchers, to Philomel. It’s set in the 1950s and is about a group of high school kids who see a light in the sky and follow it into the woods. Only one of them comes back.... Dum, dum, dum.... It’s my UFO novel, a whole new direction for me.
We Are All That’s Left by Carrie Arcos. Philomel, $17.99 May ISBN 978-0-399-17554-1
Carrie Arcos on Why the Refugee Experience Is the Human Experience
By CARRIE ARCOS
May 15, 2018
Image via Shutterstock
EDITOR'S NOTE:
Carrie Arcos (carriearcos.com) was born in Albany, New York, and still mourns the day her family left for the West Coast. She earned an MA in creative writing and English literature and writes young-adult fiction. She has taught English—both high school and college. Carrie lives in Los Angeles with her husband and three children. She is also the author of National Book Award finalist Out of Reach, and There Will Come a Time, and most recently We Are All That’s Left.
When I was a little girl, I had two teenage siblings — Javier and Claudia. They were from Nicaragua, having fled the Sandinistas to come live with me, my parents, and younger brother in Albany, NY. I didn’t understand the political turmoil or even why they were with us. They were suddenly just there. Suddenly part of my routine, my meals, my home. I remember sharing a room with Claudia. She had beautiful long, curly dark hair. Spoke to me in Spanish. When Javier laughed, he threw back his head; his whole body shook. He taught me the proper way to eat an orange — always to be peeled with a knife in one long singular ribbon, then cut into sections and eaten off the edge of the blade.
BUY THE BOOK
We Are All That's Left
by Carrie Arcos
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This was my first experience with refugees — as family.
The year I graduated from college, I joined a domestic peace corps so I could work with refugees and immigrants. I felt passionate about helping people from other cultures, probably because I was raised in a home that loved and welcomed all kinds of peoples. My worldview exploded. My eyes opened to the struggles of people from places like Bosnia, Haiti and Cuba. And I got to know them as individuals — how tea was called chai, how some kissed the left and then the right cheek, how others kissed three times, and how to hold a cigarette. We became part of the same story for a while, until we spilled off onto different adventures.
In 2014, I began thinking about writing a story set during the Bosnian War of the early 1990s. My experience working with Bosnian refugees in particular had impacted me greatly. But I hesitated. Who was I to attempt to tell such a story? I wasn’t Bosnian. I’d never been to Sarajevo. I had held on to the memories of the Bosnian people I met, but they were memories; it had been almost twenty years since I enjoyed the company of my Bosnian friends. And memories are tricky things — were they intact? A correct representation? How much of me was filtering them with my own biases and American worldview? So, I dismissed the idea and went on to pursue other writing projects."You can’t help but see that you are her and she is you."
TWEET THIS QUOTE
But I kept coming back to Bosnia. I began watching movies about the war and reading books. One that wrecked me was My War Gone By, I Miss it So. I started writing and stopped. Started and stopped. Cut most of it. Began again. But I was faced with the same apprehension that I wouldn’t be able to write the novel I wanted to write. So, I put it aside.
And then in 2016, I was asked by my church to lead a team to help resettle a refugee family from Syria. I had been following the war and the crisis was heavy on my heart. It was a different country and time, but the same story. The same killing. The same hatred.
I said yes.
I remember waiting in Los Angeles International Airport with a small group of Americans and a big sign that said Welcome in Arabic. The family passed through the gate tired, wary and grateful. We were all a little awkward. One set of strangers needing to receive and another set ready to give.
Over the next few months our team worked tirelessly, alongside Catholic Charities, the agency responsible for the family’s resettlement, to help them. We accompanied them to the Department of Public Social Services, doctor’s visits, enrolled the children in school, and secured housing in Los Angeles (which, by the way, is a terrible place to resettle financially if you’re a refugee). And in the process, others came alongside our team to help. We got to know the family from Syria, even with a language barrier. I remember the day we took them to the beach, their voices and eyes bright when they saw the ocean for the first time. The kids and their dad ran and splashed along the shore, even chasing some of us into the water. Often when I’d visit, they’d take out a small photo album they saved from Syria — wedding photos, a beautiful home, grandparents left behind. And I shared photos of my memories.
Once again, these people who came into my life as strangers became family.
Since writing We Are All That’s Left, the story of Nadja, a teenager growing up in 1990s Bosnia during the Bosnian War, and her daughter, Zara, a teenager growing up in modern-day Rhode Island, I’ve been asked: Why this story? Why now? The answer is because it’s still happening. Genocide. War. Diaspora. And when we meet people who have experienced such suffering and pain, it changes us. My Syrian family gave me the courage to face the story I had been circling for years.
So, I followed my heart. I wrote the book.
It’s easy to distance ourselves from the worldwide crisis of displacement because we look at these people as “them,” a massive group we can dismiss and close ourselves off to just because of the sheer numbers. We ignore the moral obligation that those of us who have experienced healing must help bring healing to the world. But when you meet a person, when you sit down across a table, share tea or coffee and hear their story, you can’t help but see that things are not what you assumed. You can’t help but see that you are her and she is you. You grip the cup the same way. You blow on the hot liquid before taking a sip. And you begin to wonder what you would do in the same situation. Wouldn’t you also try to leave? Wouldn’t you also want the best for your family? Wouldn’t you also do whatever you could to secure a hopeful future?
Yes. You would.
Just last month, I attended a baby shower for my Syrian family’s new son — an American baby boy named Mohammed. The mother and father proudly displayed him to us around the room. When my turn came, I held Mohammed and kissed his tiny cheeks like a proper auntie. And we praised this new little addition to the world.
Because this should always be our response to life — a celebration.
2012 National Book Award Finalist,
Young People's Literature
0
CARRIE ARCOS
Out of Reach, by Carrie ArcosOUT OF REACH
Simon Pulse, an imprint of Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing
Carrie Arcos, Photo credit: Hank Fortener
Sofia Quintero: Of all the stories that you might've told, why this story at this time? What compelled you to pursue this idea?
Carrie Arcos: A couple of years ago, I found myself looking for a family member who has struggled with drug addiction. I was distraught and in pain because I could not help this person. I could not stop him from the life he was choosing. A little while later after finishing a terrible SF novel, I started writing in Rachel's voice. I kind of channeled the emotions I had struggled with through her character. I thought the premise of a sister looking for her missing addict brother might be cool to tackle because I don't know many books that look at addiction through the lens of a family member. I also knew I could speak to the situation and provide an authenticity and emotional truth. The process became a cathartic one.
There's that old writer's adage that says to write what you know, and I suppose that's what I did with Out of Reach. I've never been a meth addict, thank goodness. But I've known one. And I've walked alongside and held hands, pushed back, shed tears. It's a long journey; well it all is, right? When you're ready, there's hope along the way that meets you in unexpected ways.
SQ: There are quite a few "reality" TV shows dealing with addiction, and I have yet to see a person like Rachel on them. There's always the episode when the family is brought in to hold the addict accountable for the way his or her behavior has adversely affected loved ones, but these depictions don't explore how a relative might actually feel complicit in the addict's decision to use. While Rachel has a range of difficult emotions towards her brother Micah, as she searches for him, she grapples with her own inner conflict about his addiction, feeling somewhat responsible for it. As powerful and ubiquitous as television is, would you say this kind of complexity is an inherent advantage that writing in general and fiction in particular holds?
CA: Reality TV. Man, I wish we could go back in time and talk to MTV and say no to "The Real World." That's the show that got us into the mess we're in now. You can probably tell I'm not a huge fan of the genre. The problem with reality TV is that it's not reality. It's edited, cast for conflict, and sometimes scripted. If a character like Rachel was on a show confronting Micah, what would she really say? What would the viewers learn? She'd probably be presented as judgmental or uncaring or naïve to the complexities of Micah's situation. I think fiction allows for an intimate look into someone like Rachel, someone who is passed over in her family because on the outside at least, she's the "good" kid. Her inner conflict and struggle would be difficult to portray in an intervention. It's funny because in Out of Reach she actually imagines herself initiating one with Micah and thinking if she did, she would have been the hero of the family. So there's a part of her that's trying to make things right, as if she could actually help or "save" Micah from himself. And this is perhaps the hardest truth and the one that isn't at the forefront of an intervention. Rachel can't save Micah. Only Micah can save Micah, no matter what intervention is staged.
SQ: At times it doesn't seem like there's a great deal of compassion out there for people struggling with substance abuse. Given your own experience with the subject matter, was this one of your objectives when writing Out of Reach? Was the catharsis you experienced in writing it the result of or maybe even the precursor to any shifts in your own understanding of addiction? That is, did you find your assumptions, prejudices, and the like challenged or changed? Although Out of Reach is about much more than substance abuse, how would you encourage someone who might be wary of reading a book that deals with addiction to give it a chance?
CA: There doesn't seem to be too much compassion for those struggling with drug addiction, but it's heartbreaking to see someone with so much promise and potential become ravaged by drugs. And this is why it makes no sense and why maybe some have no tolerance for it. They can't understand why someone would choose to destroy themselves. Or there's the other side where there's a codependency and families try to rescue, spending their time and resources to try and help their loved one, but it just becomes this terrible cycle that is no good to either one. Of course there are all kinds of things that come into play with addiction, and I am not a professional, but I know the heartache and I know the forgiveness, and sometimes they're two different sides of the same coin. That said, Out of Reach isn't really about substance abuse per se. I know the meth addiction in the synopsis might scare some people away, but it isn't about a meth addict. It's about the sister and the friend of a meth addict. Tyler, one of Micah's best friends, goes to San Diego with Rachel, and it's been difficult for him seeing his friend become someone else as well. It approaches addiction from the outside looking in. Even though there is great pain, guilt, and anger in Rachel's journey, in the end, Micah is still her brother. Her love for him doesn’t change no matter what choices he makes. But she's angry. There's a difference between being angry and being judgmental, however, and I think sometimes people mistake the two. Rachel isn't perfect and her feelings about her brother's choices may not be "right," but they're true to her experience. In the end, it's love that drives her search and love that gives her hope, but it also requires that she make a tough decision. It's a book that looks at the complexities of sibling relationships, so anyone who has a sibling could relate to that aspect. I kind of think of it as a love letter from a sister to a brother.
SQ: In recent years, there has been extensive debate over the recent popularity of "dark narratives" and heavy themes in young adult literature, from dystopian fantasy to contemporary stories that deal with substance abuse, suicide, and even sexual assault. One journalist even referred to it as “desperation lit.” Why do you think readers are so drawn to such topics and what do you hope they will gain from reading Out of Reach?
CA: I don’t think the popularity of such narratives is really that recent. Well, I guess it depends on how recent is defined. I know there were such narratives published in the 60’s and 70’s. However, during my first years of teaching high school, there were two books I couldn’t keep on my shelves in my classroom because they were so popular: A Child Called It, about a boy who survives horrible abuse at the hands of his mother, and Speak, about a girl who is struggling with depression after a rape at a party. My students were fascinated with reading about the traumatic situations the protagonists went through. They were drawn, however, not just to the suffering or “dark narratives” but to the triumph of the protagonist and to the hope that the books ultimately leave the reader with. I think there’s an identification that happens when reading these books, not necessarily in the specifics but in regard to the struggle.
Let’s face it. Adolescence is a time of wrestling with everything from the physical through the emotional, so these books provide maybe some kind of working through but at a safe distance. To know that others suffer but come out stronger, changed, more human in a way, is quite powerful. I love the quote at the end of season 3 of Buffy the Vampire Slayer when Buffy and her gang have just defeated the mayor and have saved the world. Oz says, “We survived.” Buffy responds with, “It was one hell of a battle.” To which Oz counters, “Not the battle. High School.”
I already know those who have loved ones who have struggled with addiction connect to Out of Reach, and I hope that others can gain a little more of an understanding into the complexities of addiction, how it extends beyond the addict. I also hope they’re entertained and moved by the story, so they’ll think about it beyond the last page. And cry. If it can make them cry, that’s always good.
SQ: Which authors did you read as a teen, and whose work in the genre do you enjoy reading now? Why? What would you like to see more of in young adult literature?
CA: As a teen I read pretty widely, but I loved Robert Cormier, Judy Blume, those Sweet Valley High books, Ray Bradbury, Richard Bauchman, who I found out years later was Stephen King. I loved realistic fiction with an edge as well as Science Fiction, and those two elements combined? Awesome.
A writers I’m loving in the genre now are M.T. Anderson. His stuff is great, but you must read Feed. Markus Zusak because of his novel The Book Thief. Melina Marchetta for On Jellicoe Road and Gene Luen Yang for American Born Chinese. Meg Rosoff’s pretty great too. Oh, and Patrick Ness, Lois Lowry, Cornelia Funke… There’s just too many.
I would like to see more characters, especially protagonists, fall out of the white, middle class American distinction. A book that does this very well is Ship Breaker. I don’t see why we can’t have more books that reflect the multi-ethnic or global identities of teen readers.
SQ: Many young people who are avid readers tend to be aspiring writers, and they often ask, "How did you write your book?" Describe your writing process. What is the most important piece of advice you would give to a young aspiring writer?
CA: Writing takes discipline. I would say showing up and sitting in that chair is the first step. Pushing through tough spots is another. And finishing. You must be able to finish. I usually begin with a character and setting. I try to have a sense of where the story is leading and maybe what’s at stake in the story. One practical tip I’ve put to use is the advice that Hemingway wrote about in A Moveable Feast. He said, and I’m paraphrasing here, that he would always finish at a point where he knew how he would begin the next day, so when you come back to the work, you could immediately begin.
SQ: Finish this sentence: "Adults also should read young adult literature because..."
CA: It’s such an exciting, rich field.
Sofía Quintero is the author of several novels and short stories that cross genres. Born into a working-class Puerto Rican-Dominican family in the Bronx, the self-proclaimed “Ivy League homegirl” earned a BA in history-sociology from Columbia University in 1990 and her MPA from the university's School of International and Public Affairs in 1992. After years of working on a range of policy issues from multicultural education to HIV/AIDS, she decided to pursue career that married arts and activism. Under the pen name Black Artemis, she wrote the hip hop novels Explicit Content, Picture Me Rollin’, and Burn. Sofía is also the author of the novel Divas Don’t Yield and contributed novellas to the “chica lit” anthologies Friday Night Chicas and Names I Call My Sister. As an activist, she co-founded Chica Luna Productions (chicaluna.com), a nonprofit organization that seeks to identify, develop and support women of color who wish to create socially conscious entertainment. She is also a founding creative partner of Sister Outsider Entertainment, a multimedia production company that produces quality entertainment for urban audiences. Quintero’s first young adult novel, Efrain’s Secret, was published by Knopf in 2010. To learn more about Sofia and her work, visit blackartemis.com, sisteroutsider.biz or myspace.com/sofiaquintero.
Carrie Arcos Author Interview
7:00 AM Carrie Arcos Author Interview, There Will Come a Time Review. 1 comment
Photo Content from Carrie Arcos
Carrie Arcos is a National Book Award Finalist for Young People's Literature for OUT OF REACH; her second novel is THERE WILL COME A TIME. CRAZY MESSY BEAUTIFUL will be available soon. She lives in Los Angeles with her family. For more information, check out her website: carriearcos.com
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Published: 15 April 2014
Format: Hardback 315 pages
Praise for THERE WILL COME A TIME
Libraries looking to diversify their collections might want to pick this up, as will those looking for thoughtful, character-driven stories. ―School Library Journal
Was there a defining moment during your youth when you realized you wanted to be a writer?
I don’t remember a defining moment, but I think it was always there. It must have slipped in when I first started reading, in between the pages, inside the lines. The dream somehow grabbed hold of me through my love of stories. Recently I found a letter I wrote to one of my HS English teachers. I was seventeen, graduating and reflecting on my life. My dream was to become a writer and a teacher. My biggest fear was that I wouldn’t be good enough. I became both.
Beyond your own work (of course), what is your all-time favorite book and why? And what is your favorite book outside of your genre?
It’s always difficult to answer the question, what is my all time favorite book because that changes. There are books I read when I was younger that were my favorite and now they are no longer. Even books I read five years ago have risen and fallen. I’d say my all time favorite is one I haven’t read yet. (Yes, I know, sneaky way to avoid answering.) A favorite book outside of my genre is Love Medicine by Louise Erdrich.
In your book; There Will Come a Time, can you tell my Book Nerd community a little about it?
There Will Come a Time is essentially about a teen boy’s struggle to overcome the grief he feels at the loss of his twin sister. Mark Santos is a Filipino American, bass playing, skater seventeen year old who is angry and hurt and doesn’t really know how to handle it all. He tends to think he’s the only one who has lost someone because of the whole twin connection. He finds a journal that lists top five things his sister Grace wanted to do for the year and so he and their mutual friend, Hanna, decide to complete the list. Mark’s journey is learning not only how to grieve, but also how to work through painful experiences with his relationships and making right what he needs to. Ultimately it’s a story of forgiveness.
What are some of your current and future projects that you can share with us?
I’ve just finished a draft of what’ll hopefully go on to be my third YA Contemporary novel. It’s always a little unpredictable to see how it all plays out. I’m also interested in telling a story set in Zambia about a girl who finds something she’s willing to die for. We’ll see what happens.
What was the most surprising things you learned in creating Grace?
I didn’t have a handle on who Grace was when I began the novel. I thought since she really wasn’t in it, that it was Mark’s story, I didn’t need so much of her. But this was wrong. So much of who Mark is depends on Grace, and his loss of Grace makes her a more present force in the novel. She absent and we catch glimpses of her, but they are so important in telling Mark’s story.
If you could introduce Hannah to any character from another book, who would it be and why?
I would probably introduce Hanna to Rachel, the main character of my first novel, Out of Reach. They would get along and Hanna could be very helpful to Rachel and what she’s dealing with in terms of her own relationship with her brother Micah.
When asked, what’s the one question you always answer with a lie?
The question I always answer with a lie? My height. I say 5’2.” I’m really 5’1 3/4”
What's the most memorable summer job you've ever had?
My most memorable summer job was running a small summer camp for kids. We took them all over the place. I basically got paid to play full time. It was awesome.
Who was your first boyfriend?
My first boyfriend was a guy named Kurt. He was a senior, and I was only a freshman. This is why my parents didn’t know about it. We both ran cross country and it was short and sweet. I think we lasted two months.
Tell me about your first kiss
My first kiss was at a friend’s birthday in the eighth grade. Someone had the lovely idea to play spin the bottle. I had to go inside a closet with one of my friends, a guy who I also had a huge crush on. It was awkward and we just kind of stood there, but he gave me a quick peck before the time was up. I left the closet triumphant.
When was the last time you cried?
I watched The Dallas Buyers Club recently. I teared up at that. A hard movie to watch, but powerful and illustrating the pain, ugliness, grace and beauty of humanity.
What decade during the last century would you have chosen to be a teenager?
My own, late 80s, early 90s. I loved it. And you can’t beat the movies or the music we had. Depeche Mode anyone?
What is your greatest adventure?
Raising kids is my greatest adventure at the moment. They are 11, 7 and 5. I love them, but it’s kind of crazy, especially around dinner and everyone wants to talk. Sometimes I want to fast forward to when they are teenagers and see how fun that’ll be. But by that time, I’ll want to rewind because it’s all happening so fast. Kids are awesome.
TEN THINGS YOU WOULD CHANGE ABOUT YOUR HIGH SCHOOL YEARS IF YOU COULD TRAVEL IN TIME
The amount of time I worried about what other people thought of me
I would have run for class president
I would have sang in the choir and tried out for drama
Not worried so much over getting As
Worn a bikini
Let that boy know I liked him
Talked to and get to know people I was afraid of
Not dated until senior year
Broken up with my boyfriend senior year
Taken more risks
Mark knows grief. Ever since the accident that killed his twin sister, Grace, the only time he feels at peace is when he visits the bridge on which she died. Comfort is fleeting, but it’s almost within reach when he’s standing on the wrong side of the suicide bars. Almost.
Grace’s best friend, Hanna, says she understands what he’s going through. But she doesn’t. She can’t. It’s not just the enormity of his loss. As her twin, Mark should have known Grace as well as he knows himself. Yet when he reads her journal, it’s as if he didn’t know her at all.
As a way to remember Grace, Hanna convinces Mark to complete Grace’s bucket list from her journal. Mark’s sadness, anger, and his growing feelings for Hannah threaten to overwhelm him. But Mark can’t back out. He made a promise to honor Grace—and it’s his one chance to set things right.
Inseparable twins, Mark and Grace, were looking forward to their senior year in high school. However, plans are altered when the twins are involved in a car accident. Grace is killed but Mark, who was behind the wheel survives. Mark has a difficult time with the grieving process. When he and Grace’s best friend, Hanna, find a bucket list in one of Grace’s journal entries, the two embark on a journey to fulfill the top five things that Grace planned to do in the upcoming year. It certainly helps Mark with the grieving process but still feels guilty for being the survivor. Losing his twin sister has brought on so much weight on his heart.
Carrie Arcos’ There Will Come a Time tells the emotional process of losing someone really close to you. It is rather a very difficult course for young adults to go through especially when it involves a sibling. For Mark, it was his twin sister and there were so many emotions that he was going through. Arcos’ approach on giving the book a male’s point of view is a nice shift to the norm. It gave readers a different aspect on the pain and suffering once goes through when losing a sibling. Males tend to be less emotional that their counterparts, but Mark certainly went through a lot.
Arco’s writing gave a realistic tone to Mark’s voice. She is able to describe in detail on Mark’s conflicted grief over the loss of his twin sister. Mark is an intriguing and highly dynamic character. He wasn’t all sad and down throughout the book and at times showed frustrations. There is a sense of balance in the story with coping the loss of a loved one and Mark’s relationships with people and especially with Hanna. There Will Come a Time is an amazingly written novel that goes deep into the emotional stages of grieving over the loss of someone, and the healing process one must face to overcome their guilt.
You can purchase There Will Come a Time at the following Retailers:
And now, The Giveaways.
INTERVIEW WITH CARRIE ARCOS!
POSTED OCTOBER 14, 2012 BY KAITLYNN IN CARRIE ARCOS, INTERVIEW / 5 COMMENTS
Today I have the amazing debut author, Carrie Arcos, on the blog for an interview! Carrie Arcos’ debut novel, Out Of Reach, will be out from Simon & Schuster on October 16!
book cover of Out Of Reach by Carrie Arcos
How do you find someone who doesn’t want to be found? A girl searches for her missing addict brother while confronting her own secrets in this darkly lyrical novel.
Rachel has always idolized her older brother Micah. He struggles with addiction, but she tells herself that he’s in control. And she almost believes it. Until the night that Micah doesn’t come home.
Rachel’s terrified—and she can’t help but feel responsible. She should have listened when Micah tried to confide in her. And she only feels more guilt when she receives an anonymous note telling her that Micah is nearby and in danger.
With nothing more to go on than hope and a slim lead, Rachel and Micah’s best friend, Tyler, begin the search. Along the way, Rachel will be forced to confront her own dark secrets, her growing attraction to Tyler…and the possibility that Micah may never come home.
Tell us a little about yourself and your books!
I live in Los Angeles with my husband and three kids. I’m originally from Albany, New York though, which probably explains some of my sass. I’m kind of a food snob, but since I live in LA, I’m surrounded by them and that kind of makes it okay. I love movies, science fiction, Vietnamese coffee and good conversations with friends.
I’ve been writing for a number of years and have taught high school and currently teach college English. I also used to coach Cross Country and Track and Field.
OUT OF REACH is my debut YA novel. I’m so thankful my agent, Kerry Sparks, took a chance on it, because here we are!
What made you decide to write YA?
I tried to write what I thought I was supposed to for years. You know, short stories for literary magazines and the like. But the truth was I didn’t even like short stories. I never read them. I read novels. And I loved YA novels because I love teens. Teaching high school was awesome and I wanted to write books that spoke their truth. So I thought, why not? And that was the beginning of me realizing what I wanted to write and who I wanted to write for.
What do you find to be the hardest part of writing?
The time. I have young kids and I teach part time. So I have to be very disciplined about carving the time to write. But I love it. If I go for too long of a stretch without writing, I get very cranky.
What do you think makes Out Of Reach unique from other YA contemporaries?
OUT OF REACH focuses on a pair of siblings, which sets it apart through that relationship. It looks at meth addiction through the lens of a sister and not the addict. I think this is a unique take on drug addiction because most books out there focus on the downward spiral of the addict. OUT OF REACH is more of a look at who’s left behind.
What are some YA books in your reading pile? Any you’d highly recommend?
Recently I read Gary Schmidt’s OKAY FOR NOW. I loved that book. Wow. It’s probably more MG, but it’s so wonderful.
I also thought STARTERS by another debut author, Lissa Price was a fun read. It’s got this really great, but creep premise and the ending come s out of nowhere, but will totally leave you wanting to read the sequel.
Can you tell us anything about what you are currently working on?
I finished a kind of magical realism novel about a girl who goes to Baja during the summer to wait for her great grandmother to die. Kind of harsh sounding, maybe, but her great grandmother is always on the verge of dying. While there she meets and boy and is caught up in an ancient mystery set in 1931.
I’m also working on a story about a boy who is dealing with grief because of the death of his mother as well as his feelings for his best friend Hanna, who also happens to live across the street.
Thanks for the interview, Carrie! I can’t wait to read Out Of Reach!
Readers, you can find out more about Carrie and Out of Reach on Twitter, Goodreads, and Carrie’s website!
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Print Marked Items
We Are All That's Left
Diane Colson
Booklist.
114.14 (Mar. 15, 2018): p72+.
COPYRIGHT 2018 American Library Association
http://www.ala.org/aboutala/offices/publishing/booklist/
Full Text:
* We Are All That's Left.
By Carrie Arcos.
May 2018. 400p. Philomel, $17.99 (9780399175541). Gr. 9-12.
Zara just doesn't get her mother; the woman lives by rules that make no sense to Zara. She knows that her
mother suffered greatly in her native Bosnia, where she lost her entire family. But her reticence on the
subject feels like one more way to shut out her daughter. Everything changes, however, when terrorists
bomb the farmer's market, injuring Zara and leaving her mother in a coma. Desperate for connection in the
wake of the attack, Zara discovers a box containing photographs and clues from her mother's teenage years,
when she was struggling to survive in war-ravaged Bosnia. Nadja's story is revealed in pieces as Zara
struggles with her own recovery. The descriptions of Nadja's days in Sarajevo are brutally realistic: there
was no food or heat, and snipers took shots at anyone venturing into the streets. Arcos masterfully shows
how teens in this terrible place have the same desires and dreams as twenty-first-century teens, and Zara's
story rings equally true. After the bombing, Zara is changed in a fundamental way. She now craves
meaning, which is part of her attraction to Joseph, a boy who is exploring religion as a way to cope with his
own demons. This complex, compelling story takes readers on a deep dive below the surface, exposing both
the fragility of life and the redemptive bonds of love.--Diane Colson
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
Colson, Diane. "We Are All That's Left." Booklist, 15 Mar. 2018, p. 72+. General OneFile,
http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A533094603/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=c7d79db6.
Accessed 24 June 2018.
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We Are All That's Left
Publishers Weekly.
265.11 (Mar. 12, 2018): p61.
COPYRIGHT 2018 PWxyz, LLC
http://www.publishersweekly.com/
Full Text:
* We Are All That's Left
Carrie Arcos. Philomel, $17.99 (400p) ISBN 9780-399-17554-1
Arcos (Out of Reach) depicts the horrors of the 1990s Bosnian conflict in this powerful novel that
juxtaposes images of the war against a fictionalized terrorist attack in Rhode Island. The story begins in the
present day with teenage Zara bemoaning the fact that she feels distant from her mother, Nadja. Zara knows
that Nadja was a victim of the Bosnian war, but many questions remain unanswered. What are the
nightmares that make Nadja scream out in the night? Why does she never speak of her wartime
experiences? Then Zara experiences a trauma firsthand. While at the farmers' market with her mother and
brother, a bomb goes off, leaving both children injured and their mother in a coma. Now, facing the
possibility that Nadja may never awaken, Zara feels a pressing need to understand her family history. Arcos
alternates Zara's battle with PTSD and her quest to find clues to her mother's past with the story of young
Nadjas struggles to survive after her entire family is killed by Serbs. The result is a multilayered view of
tragedy and its repercussions. Ages 12-up. Agent: Kerry Sparks, Levine Greenhurg Roston Literary
Agency. (May)
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
"We Are All That's Left." Publishers Weekly, 12 Mar. 2018, p. 61. General OneFile,
http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A531285172/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=35cde80e.
Accessed 24 June 2018.
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Arcos, Carrie: WE ARE ALL THAT'S
LEFT
Kirkus Reviews.
(Mar. 1, 2018):
COPYRIGHT 2018 Kirkus Media LLC
http://www.kirkusreviews.com/
Full Text:
Arcos, Carrie WE ARE ALL THAT'S LEFT Philomel (Young Adult Fiction) $17.99 5, 15 ISBN: 978-0-
399-17554-1
A mother and daughter with a strained relationship cope with the legacy of horrific violence.
Zara is the daughter of an interfaith marriage between her mostly secular parents: a Bosnian Muslim mother
and white Catholic father. She is an ordinary American girl in many ways despite her fraught relationship
with her traumatized mother--Zara knows that Nadja was a refugee, but her mother's emotional distance has
stopped her from learning the details of her past. An ISIS bombing at a Rhode Island farmers market leaves
Zara wounded and her mother comatose but also opens up the path for Zara to finally understand her
mother's story. At the hospital she develops a close friendship with a spiritually seeking, biracial (Haitian
and Irish) boy who is there visiting his grandmother. Interwoven chapters tell the story of Nadja in 1990s
Bosnia, where she was an equally ordinary adolescent, treasuring mix tapes from her Serbian boyfriend. But
the Bosnian War changes everything, and Nadja finds herself a survivor of genocide, having experienced
crimes so horrific she's blocked them out. Ethnic and religious conflict among modern Europeans contrasts
sharply with racist Islamophobia in Zara's contemporary New England. The search for faith and meaning
pervades the story, but, disappointingly, the narrative too often filters spirituality through Western and
Christian lenses. The long, complex history of the South Slavs is also overly simplified.
Despite its shortcomings, this important and timely novel is a painful, lovely exploration of mending a
mother-daughter relationship. (author's note, bibliography, glossary) (Fiction. 13-17)
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
"Arcos, Carrie: WE ARE ALL THAT'S LEFT." Kirkus Reviews, 1 Mar. 2018. General OneFile,
http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A528959916/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=39e4cd13.
Accessed 24 June 2018.
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Crazy Messy Beautiful
Reinhardt Suarez
Booklist.
113.7 (Dec. 1, 2016): p53.
COPYRIGHT 2016 American Library Association
http://www.ala.org/aboutala/offices/publishing/booklist/
Full Text:
Crazy Messy Beautiful. By Carrie Arcos. Feb. 2017. 320p. Philomel, $17.99 (9780399175534). Gr. 8-11.
Names have power, and for Neruda Diaz, the name of "the Poet," Pablo Neruda, has shaped his conception
of the world. Neruda longs to have a whirlwind romance as described in the Poet's works, but he must
balance his ideas of romantic love with the reality of his father cheating on his mother, being forced to work
with his nemesis on a mural, and his growing feelings for edgy goth girl Callie. As that relationship grows,
the schism between his desire for love and his doubt in it grows wider. It is in learning more about who the
Poet truly was that Neruda comes to understand that love is crazy, messy, and beautiful--like all of life. The
book shines most in Neruda's interplay with Callie, who hides her artistic side behind her hard edges, and
Ezra, a repentant ex-convict friend, whose regret provides guidance for Neruda's challenges. Arcos has
written a classic story of a budding artist finding out the reality behind the artifice, and does so while
keeping a wonderful sense of humor. --Reinhardt Suarez
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
Suarez, Reinhardt. "Crazy Messy Beautiful." Booklist, 1 Dec. 2016, p. 53. General OneFile,
http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A474720346/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=7daa642c.
Accessed 24 June 2018.
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Crazy Messy Beautiful
Publishers Weekly.
263.48 (Nov. 28, 2016): p68.
COPYRIGHT 2016 PWxyz, LLC
http://www.publishersweekly.com/
Full Text:
Crazy Messy Beautiful
Carrie Arcos. Philomel, $17.99 (320p) ISBN 978-0-399-17553-4
For 16-year-old Neruda Diaz, love is a mystery, maybe the mystery. He comes by his fixation honestly: he's
named after Chilean love poet Pablo Neruda, his parents are still in love, and he thinks that beautiful
Autumn Cho might be the one for him. Then mystery turns tragic: Neruda's parents' marriage is less stable
than he thought, and--like her predecessors--Autumn isn't interested. Neruda gets to paint a mural at school,
but has to work with a guy he hates, and he and a girl he barely knows have to interview each other for a
class assignment. Arcos (There Will Cornea Time) makes Neruda thoughtful and real, and Callie Leibowitz,
that near stranger from school, is tough, funny, and interesting. Neruda is half Chilean, his Los Angeles is
realistically diverse, and he's a reflective, engaging protagonist. Arcos capably probes the mysterious
without attempting to solve it as Neruda discovers the difference between crushing on someone he doesn't
know and loving someone he does, learning that friendship, too, is a kind of love. Ages 12-up. Agent: Kerry
Sparks, Levine Greenberg Rostan. (Feb.)
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
"Crazy Messy Beautiful." Publishers Weekly, 28 Nov. 2016, p. 68. General OneFile,
http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A473149978/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=061cd9d7.
Accessed 24 June 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A473149978
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Arcos, Carrie: CRAZY MESSY
BEAUTIFUL
Kirkus Reviews.
(Nov. 15, 2016):
COPYRIGHT 2016 Kirkus Media LLC
http://www.kirkusreviews.com/
Full Text:
Arcos, Carrie CRAZY MESSY BEAUTIFUL Philomel (Children's Fiction) $17.99 2, 7 ISBN: 978-0-399-
17553-4
Neruda Diaz carries around his legendary namesake's poems, but they haven't helped him find the love he
desperately seeks. Latino 16-year-old Neruda Diaz was named in tribute to his Chilean father and
grandfather's favorite poet, Pablo Neruda. A talented portrait artist, Neruda is determined to achieve the
kind of overwhelming love "The Poet" captured, but so far he's "unluckiest in love" and has fallen
unrequitedly for eight different girls. When his English teacher assigns a biography project, Neruda ends up
partnered with aloof, white classmate Callie Leibowitz, who turns out to love volleyball, classic movies,
and makeup art. Their blossoming friendship makes Neruda wonder if Callie could be the one, but his
concept of love begins to waver as he uncovers a family betrayal. Though less of an issues book than the
author's previous titles (There Will Come a Time, 2014; Out of Reach, 2012), there's still plenty of thoughtprovoking
substance to Arcos' third. The focus on the power of friendship (Neruda's best friend, MexicanAmerican
Ezra, is a recently released ex-con ready to restart his life), art (visual, literary, even makeup), and
family relationships makes this considerably more layered than the typical high school romance. Neruda is a
great example of the sort of thoughtful and artistic male protagonist teen literature really needs. This
satisfying and unconventional love story explores the various meanings of the word. (Fiction. 13-18)
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
"Arcos, Carrie: CRAZY MESSY BEAUTIFUL." Kirkus Reviews, 15 Nov. 2016. General OneFile,
http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A469865761/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=6c909941.
Accessed 24 June 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A469865761
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There Will Come a Time
Jeanne Fredriksen
Booklist.
110.22 (Aug. 1, 2014): p70.
COPYRIGHT 2014 American Library Association
http://www.ala.org/aboutala/offices/publishing/booklist/
Full Text:
* There Will Come a Time. By Carrie Arcos. 2014.320p. Simon & Schuster/Simon Pulse, $17.99
(9781442495876). Gr. 9-12.
[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]
How does a 17-year-old reorient his life after his twin sister dies in the car he was driving? Sure, it was the
other driver's fault, but nothing in Mark Santos' world makes sense anymore. His only comfort is revisiting
the bridge where the accident occurred and contemplating what might have been. Hanna, Grace's best friend
and their neighbor, encourages Mark to fulfill Grace's "Top Five Things to Do This Year" list--including
bungee jumping and learning to surf--from one of her private journals, and he reluctantly agrees as a way to
honor Grace's memory. Meanwhile, Mark begins to experience new feelings for Hanna, but he's at a loss as
how to deal with them, as his bigger problem is learning to forgive the driver of the other car, his estranged
mother, and, most importantly, himself. This nuanced story presents a close study on how different people
react to loss while posing many thorny questions about relationships. Mark is Filipino American, and
another character is Korean American, offering diversity for those wishing to widen their lists. Give this
book to anyone who wants a rock-solid, character-driven story of finding one's footing after a life-changing
event. --Jeanne Fredriksen
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
Fredriksen, Jeanne. "There Will Come a Time." Booklist, 1 Aug. 2014, p. 70. General OneFile,
http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A379569505/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=cda37ef6.
Accessed 24 June 2018.
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Arcos, Carrie. Out of Reach
Christina Fairman
Voice of Youth Advocates.
36.2 (June 2013): p54.
COPYRIGHT 2013 E L Kurdyla Publishing LLC
http://www.voya.com
Full Text:
4Q * 4P * J * S
Arcos, Carrie. Out of Reach. Simon Pulse, 2012. 256p. $16.99. 978-1-4424-4053-1.
Unconditional love often means taking on the pain of another as if it were your own. For seventeen-year-old
Rachel and her family, that pain centers on the meth addiction of Rachel's older brother, Micah, an aspiring
musician whose dependency has compelled him to run away from home. His absence, while devastating to
the entire family, is particularly upsetting for Rachel because she knew of his addiction early on but chose
to keep it a secret. At first, it was a way of protecting her beloved brother, but then it evolved into denial.
Now, he is missing.
The plot line of this well-crafted novel is not the story of Micah's direct experience with addiction; we never
meet Micah nor see firsthand his decline into dependency. It is, instead, a touching character study of
Rachel's emotional growth as she comes to accept something that she cannot control. Most of the story
occurs on the road as Rachel and a friend search for Micah among drug users of the California coast.
Language--basic slang common to most high school settings--is appropriate without being gratuitous, and
sexual situations are discussed briefly in general terms. The core strength of this book is the convincing
narrative it weaves about the complex nature of drug addiction as it affects families. Reluctant readers and
teens with a personal connection to the subject matter will find this book especially satisfying.--Christina
Fairman
Fairman, Christina
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
Fairman, Christina. "Arcos, Carrie. Out of Reach." Voice of Youth Advocates, June 2013, p. 54. General
OneFile, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A342467020/ITOF?
u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=ef7b1ef3. Accessed 24 June 2018.
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Out of Reach
Diane Colson
Booklist.
109.4 (Oct. 15, 2012): p57.
COPYRIGHT 2012 American Library Association
http://www.ala.org/aboutala/offices/publishing/booklist/
Full Text:
Out of Reach.
By Carrie Arcos.
Oct. 2012.256p. Simon & Schuster/Simon Pulse,
$16.99 (9781442440531). Gr. 9-12.
Rachel's older brother Micah is using crystal meth, and he is lying, stealing, and hurting those who love him
in order to feed his addiction. After Micah leaves home without a word, an anonymous e-mail warns Rachel
that Micah is in serious trouble. So Rachel teams up with Micah's fellow band member, handsome bad-boy
Tyler, to find her brother. Micah's disintegration is revealed as strangers tell Rachel exactly what she doesn't
want to hear. Her sad journey is a route traveled by many who have lost a loved one to drug addiction.
Where is no happy reunion scene to anticipate, no reclaiming one of the most important relationships in her
life. But, despite the heartache of the search, Rachel begins to see that her life isn't destroyed--and that Tyler
is surprisingly kind and caring. In addition to the fictional elements, the book deftly incorporates solid
information about drug addiction, and teens affected by drug use may see their own experiences reflected in
Rachel's story. Recommend this to readers of Ellen Hopkins' similarly themed novels in verse.
Colson, Diane
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
Colson, Diane. "Out of Reach." Booklist, 15 Oct. 2012, p. 57. General OneFile,
http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A307269665/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=5cb07f8c.
Accessed 24 June 2018.
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Arcos, Carrie: OUT OF REACH
Kirkus Reviews.
(Oct. 1, 2012):
COPYRIGHT 2012 Kirkus Media LLC
http://www.kirkusreviews.com/
Full Text:
Arcos, Carrie OUT OF REACH Simon Pulse/Simon & Schuster (Children's Fiction) $16.99 10, 16 ISBN:
978-1-4424-4053-1
Ellen Hopkins fans will find another look at methamphetamine addiction in this quick, realistic debut.
When 16-year-old Rachel Stevens receives a cryptic email about the location of her missing older brother,
Micah, a promising guitarist turned meth addict, she knows she has to try to find him. She enlists the help of
Micah's former band mate, Tyler, and the pair secretly heads to Ocean Beach, Calif. As they roam the city's
seedier neighborhoods, where stolen cars and drug deals are daily occurrences, Rachel's first-person
narration alternates between their search and budding friendship (or possibly more) and recollections of her
relationship with Micah, watching Micah slowly succumb to drugs, and her plight with a cheating
boyfriend. In the process, she begins to tackle her anger, guilt and grief, to recognize her own weaknesses,
and to form her beliefs concerning religion, relationships and even addiction itself ("calling it a disease or
saying that addiction was based on predispositions or hereditary seemed to negate the personal choices it
took for someone to become an addict"). Although more didactic and less raw, dramatic and compelling
than Hopkins', Rachel's pursuit enlightens readers about the patterns and hazards of meth addiction, as well
as the destruction of the family left behind. The final pages offer a hopeful conclusion to Rachel's even
bigger search--for herself. (Fiction. 14 & up)
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
"Arcos, Carrie: OUT OF REACH." Kirkus Reviews, 1 Oct. 2012. General OneFile,
http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A303620333/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=8c788373.
Accessed 24 June 2018.
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ARCOS, Carrie. We Are All That's Left
Brittany Drehobl
School Library Journal.
64.4 (Apr. 2018): p128.
COPYRIGHT 2018 Library Journals, LLC. A wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No
redistribution permitted.
http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/
Full Text:
ARCOS, Carrie. We Are All That's Left. 400p. Philomel. May 2018. Tr $17.99. ISBN 9780399175541.
Gr 9 Up--Seventeen-year-old Zara has a difficult relationship with her immigrant mother, Nadja, who is
judgmental of the hobby Zara hopes to make a career: photography. Zara knows that her mother survived
the horrific ethnic cleansing of her own Muslim people during the Bosnian War, but her mother isn't very
open about that part of her past. Zara feels farther from her mother than ever when they become the victims
of a present-day, nation-wide terrorist attack that injures Zara and puts Nadja into a coma. From this point
forward, both women's stories are told in alternating chapters: Zara's unfolds chronologically during the
weeks of their recoveries, while Nadja's bounces between 1992 and 1999 as she experiences life and
survival before, during, and after a global humanitarian crisis. While Nadja lays near-lifeless in the hospital,
Zara discovers pieces of the past her mother has kept to herself for so long. Letters and photographs (both
found in her mother's box and her own) connect the past and the present for Zara, along with the help of a
boy she meets visiting her mother in the hospital. While complicated in plot and often heavy in descriptions,
this work will be enjoyed by persistent readers who will hopefully walk away with the rich sense of unity
that spans time, religion, culture, and love so expertly threaded within the narrative. VERDICT Filled with
imagery, language, and situations often found during times of war and suffering, this historical-meetspresent
title is best suited for thoughtful readers.--Brittany Drehobl, Morton Grove Public Library, IL
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
Drehobl, Brittany. "ARCOS, Carrie. We Are All That's Left." School Library Journal, Apr. 2018, p. 128.
General OneFile, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A533409069/ITOF?
u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=9acf6ffd. Accessed 24 June 2018.
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Arcos, Carrie. Out of Reach
Alissa J. Bach
School Library Journal.
58.12 (Dec. 2012): p108.
COPYRIGHT 2012 Library Journals, LLC. A wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No
redistribution permitted.
http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/
Full Text:
ARCOS, Carrie. Out of Reach. 256p. S & S/Simon Pulse. 2012. Tr $16.99. ISBN 978-1-4424-4053-1;
ebook $9.99. ISBN 978-1-4424-4055-5.
Gr 9 Up--When Rachel's brother begins using crystal meth to fuel his music, she rums a blind eye, hoping
the issue will resolve itself. Then Micah disappears, and Rachel is wracked with guilt. Could she have tried
harder to help him? An anonymous email tips her off that he is in Ocean Beach and in serious trouble.
Teaming up with Micah's former bandmate, Tyler, she sets off to search for her brother. It's soon apparent
that this is not only a journey to find Micah, but one that Rachel must take to make peace with herself. At
its simplest, this is a story about addiction and its far-reaching impact on the user and those close to him. It
is also about love, family, and personal growth. None are new topics to YA literature, but it is how the
author approaches them that sets this book apart. Rachel's voice is painfully honest as, more and more, she
opens up about her life and how her brother's addiction is affecting her. A budding romance softens the
knowledge that the search for Micah might not come to a happy or conclusive ending. A powerful debut.--
Alissa J. Bach, Oxford Public Library, MI
Bach, Alissa J.
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
Bach, Alissa J. "Arcos, Carrie. Out of Reach." School Library Journal, Dec. 2012, p. 108. General OneFile,
http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A311292327/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=8f333a5c.
Accessed 24 June 2018.
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Arcos, Carrie. There Will Come a Time
Stephanie Klose
School Library Journal.
60.5 (May 2014): p123+.
COPYRIGHT 2014 Library Journals, LLC. A wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No
redistribution permitted.
http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/
Full Text:
ARCOS, Carrie. There Will Come a Time. 320p. S. & S./Simon Pulse. 2014. Tr $17.99. ISBN
9781442495852; ebk. $9.99. ISBN 9781442495876.
Gr 9 Up--Mark's grief after the death of his twin sister, Grace, is so intense that he has trouble functioning.
Aside from missing her desperately--if your twin dies, are you still a twin?, he wonders--he blames himself
for choosing that route to drive, for not being able to avoid the car that hit theirs. The only thing that makes
him feel better is visiting the bridge where she died, though he's at least self-aware enough to know that it
isn't healthy. When Grace's best friend, Hanna, suggests that the two of them work together to complete
Grace's list of things to do this year, which includes such terrifying entries as learning to surf and
performing spoken word at a club, he agrees as a way to honor his sister. But his growing feelings for
Hanna complicate matters, especially since he has a long way to go before he learns to forgive the other
driver--or himself. The protagonist is of Filipino descent, though his culture is not a focal point of the
narrative. Libraries looking to diversify their collections might want to pick this up, as will those looking
for thoughtful, character-driven stories.--Stephanie Klose, School Library Journal
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
Klose, Stephanie. "Arcos, Carrie. There Will Come a Time." School Library Journal, May 2014, p. 123+.
General OneFile, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A367298894/ITOF?
u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=2dab7f52. Accessed 24 June 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A367298894