Project and content management for Contemporary Authors volumes
WORK TITLE: See All the Stars
WORK NOTES:
PSEUDONYM(S):
BIRTHDATE: 22-Sep
WEBSITE: https://kitfrick.com/
CITY: Brooklyn
STATE: NY
COUNTRY: United States
NATIONALITY:
RESEARCHER NOTES:
PERSONAL
Married.
EDUCATION:Attended Sarah Lawrence College; Syracuse University, M.F.A.; New York University, M.A., studied at NYU’s Center for Publishing with book editors and literary agents.
ADDRESS
CAREER
Poet, novelist, and editor. Simon & Schuster, New York, NY, intern, editorial assistant; New York University, New York, academic administrator; Black Lawrence Press, chapbook editor; Pitch Wars, writer mentor.
AWARDS:Residency fellowships to the MacDowell Colony, the Constance Saltonstall Foundation for the Arts, and the Kimmel Harding Nelson Center for the Arts.
WRITINGS
Contributor of poetry to publications, including Diagram; Conduit; CutBank; Sixth Finch; Forklift, Ohio; and Verse Daily.
SIDELIGHTS
Originally from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and now based in Brooklyn, New York, novelist, poet, and editor Kit Frick has published poetry in various publications, including Diagram, Conduit, and Verse Daily, and has written poetry chapbooks Echo, Echo, Light and Kill Your Darlings, Clementine. Frick worked at Simon & Schuster as an editorial assistant, at New York University as an academic administrator, and currently at Black Lawrence Press, where she edits the nationally distributed chapbook series. She is also an editor for private clients, and mentor for new writers through Pitch Wars. She studied creative writing at Sarah Lawrence College, holds an M.A. from New York University, and an M.F.A. from Syracuse University. Frick has received residency fellowships to the MacDowell Colony, the Constance Saltonstall Foundation for the Arts, and the Kimmel Harding Nelson Center for the Arts.
In 2018, Frick published her debut full-length poetry collection, A Small Rising Up in the Lungs. In spare, shimmering language, Frick offers observations on seeing, being, and living. Exploring the terrains we navigate and are defined by, she focuses on landscapes, escape routes, coal mines of western Pennsylvania, land and sea locales, and destinations. She is fascinated with space and proximity, and describes relationships that are both physically and emotionally close to each other, and those that are close but unreachable. With empathy, playfulness, mystery, and danger, her poems explore places that define us, emptiness, and inquisitiveness.
Frick’s 2018 debut novel, See All the Stars, set in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, focuses on the often volatile friendships of high school girls. “It’s about heartbreak, self-deception and trying to move on in the wake of guilt and loss,” Frick explained online at Brooklyn Poets. Divided into “Then” and “Now” sections, the book reveals that Then, Ellory May was a high school junior with her group of inseparable friends Bex, Jenni, and leader Ret. But after she became involved with her boyfriend, Matthias, a terrible incident happened that caused her to be suspended from school. Now, in senior year, after having spent time at art camp, she has returned to school, shunned, friendless, and boyfriendless. As Gardner delves into the torment of high school relationships and the mysterious notes left by someone who doesn’t want Ellory to forget what happened, the author explores how teenagers move on and forge a sense of identity.
Gardner “slowly peels away the story’s truths, leaving the reader to question everything, including Ellory’s mental health,” according to a writer in Publishers Weekly. “This is a multilayered story about love, friendship, and personal responsibility. In her debut, Frick beautifully pens a compelling tale with which her audience will relate,” especially to the pangs of first love and to the sting of betrayal, reported Kirsten Pickel in Voice of Youth Advocates. In Kirkus Reviews, a writer noted: “A gripping and atmospheric contemporary thriller that excels in portraying the complex intensity of its characters.” Although the plot twist is predicted early, the conclusion is satisfying, said the writer.
In an interview on the Amelia Brunskill website, Frick observed: “Friendships between women in adolescence and early adulthood are rarely simple. They’re intense—intensely good, intensely close, intensely consuming, intensely critical, intensely imbued with meaning, intensely fraught with the trappings of personal identity formation and navigating an often unforgiving social world.”
As a representation of the hierarchy of high school relationships between girls, the book offers flawed and layered characters that readers will relate to, according to Morgan O’Reilly at School Library Journal. O’Reilly added: “The prose in Frick’s fast-paced debut will pull readers in immediately,” and that the thrills, mystery, and love story will appeal to fans of E. Lockhart’s We Were Liars.
BIOCRIT
PERIODICALS
Kirkus Reviews, June 1, 2018, review of See All the Stars.
Publishers Weekly, June 18, 2018, review of See All the Stars, p. 106.
School Library Journal, August 2018, Morgan O’Reilly, review of See All the Stars, p. 72.
Voice of Youth Advocates, August 2018, Kirsten Pickel, review of See All the Stars, p. 58.
ONLINE
Amelia Brunskill, https://ameliabrunskill.com/ (August 16, 2018), author interview.
Brooklyn Poets, http://brooklynpoets.org/ (May 1, 2017), author interview.
Kit Frick is a novelist, poet, and MacDowell Colony fellow. Originally from Pittsburgh, PA, she studied creative writing at Sarah Lawrence College and received her MFA from Syracuse University. When she isn't putting complicated characters in impossible situations, Kit edits poetry and literary fiction for a small press, edits for private clients, and mentors emerging writers through Pitch Wars. Her debut young adult novel is SEE ALL THE STARS (Simon & Schuster / Margaret K. McElderry Books, August 2018), and her debut full-length poetry collection is A SMALL RISING UP IN THE LUNGS (New American Press, fall 2018). Visit Kit online at www.kitfrick.com and follow her on Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest @kitfrick.
Kit Frick is the author of two chapbooks: Echo, Echo, Light (winner of the Slope Editions Chapbook Contest, 2013) and Kill Your Darlings, Clementine (forthcoming from Rye House Press). Her poems have recently appeared in places like DIAGRAM, Conduit, CutBank, Sixth Finch, and Forklift, Ohio, and have been featured on Verse Daily. A 2012 “Discovery” / Boston Review semi-finalist, Kit is the Chapbook Editor for Black Lawrence Press. Kit lives in Brooklyn with her husband and lives online at www.kitfrick.com.
Kit Frick is a novelist, poet and MacDowell Colony fellow. Originally from Pittsburgh, PA, she studied creative writing at Sarah Lawrence College and received her MFA from Syracuse University. When she isn’t putting complicated characters in impossible situations, Kit edits poetry and literary fiction for Black Lawrence Press, edits for private clients, and mentors emerging writers through Pitch Wars. She is the author of two chapbooks, Echo, Echo, Light (Slope Editions, 2013) and Kill Your Darlings, Clementine (Rye House Press, 2013), and her debut young adult novel is See All the Stars (Simon & Schuster / Margaret K. McElderry Books, 2018). “Gravity Engine” appears in the Brooklyn Poets Anthology, released this spring.
Tell us about the making of this poem.
I wrote “Gravity Engine” following a long weekend with some friend in New York’s Adirondack region. I was packing up, enacting the mundane task of deflating an air mattress, which got me thinking about journeys, travel more generally, and the impact we make on places and places on our selves, and our hearts.
What are you working on right now?
Mostly fiction! I have two young adult novels coming out with McElderry Books, one of Simon & Schuster’s children’s imprints, in summer 2018 and 2019, respectively. The first, See All the Stars, is about a girl navigating her senior year of high school after a devastating friend group breakup that coincides with the end of her first romantic relationship. It’s about heartbreak, self-deception and trying to move on in the wake of guilt and loss.
What’s a good day for you?
This is going to sound really corny, but every day is a good day now that I’m working for myself! I left my day job about a year ago to focus on writing and editing full-time. I’m usually overbooked and often work long hours, but it’s done wonders for my mental and emotional well-being. Plus, I get to wear lounge pants to the “office” every day.
What brought you to Brooklyn?
College brought me to New York, to the Yonkers–Bronxville area. I wanted to be in or near NYC because I was going to be an actress! (That was a swiftly abandoned dream as I threw myself into the much more practical and lucrative pursuit of writing.) I moved to Brooklyn after graduation because Brooklyn was the place to be. I had a couple of college friends who had already made the move, and one lived in Park Slope, so it was the neighborhood I knew best. In 2004, I moved into an apartment down the block, and save for a three-year stint in Syracuse for my MFA, I’ve lived in Brooklyn ever since: Park Slope, then Gowanus, and now Bensonhurst.
Tell us about your neighborhood. How long have you lived there? What do you like about it? How is it changing? How does it compare to other neighborhoods or places you’ve lived?
I’ve lived in Bensonhurst, a neighborhood in south Brooklyn, since 2012. So almost five years now. You know the opening sequence to Saturday Night Fever, where John Travolta is walking down a Brooklyn sidewalk to the Bee Gees’ “Stayin’ Alive,” with the elevated subway tracks to his right, and shops to his left, including Lenny’s Pizza, where he orders a couple of slices through the window?
No? Here it is, just in case:
That’s 86th St in Bensonhurst in 1977, and Lenny’s Pizza is still here (but just between us, La Bella right around the corner on 20th Ave is better). I live about a block and a half from where that scene was filmed, and one of the things I love most about Bensonhurst is that it doesn’t look a whole lot different forty years later. There’s a Starbucks now, and a Planet Fitness, but many of the independent retailers are still here, and the neighborhood (especially along 18th Ave) still has many of the old Italian bakeries and restaurants. Bensonhurst is increasingly more diverse. In addition to the Italian population, there are immigrants from Russia, China, Poland and elsewhere. It’s a very family-centric neighborhood; there are large commercial strips along 86th St and elsewhere, but there’s no nightlife to speak of (something that’s definitely changed since 1977), which means it’s actually quiet at night, something I’ve come to appreciate in my thirties in a way I wouldn’t have in my twenties in Park Slope and Gowanus! I work from home, and it’s a great place to write and edit.
Share with us a defining Brooklyn experience, good, bad, or in between.
I first visited NYC when I was in high school. I loved it, but my exploration of the city was limited to Manhattan on those first several trips. I remember thinking that everything worth seeing was in Manhattan, and feeling perhaps that it was the only place it would be safe to go. I remember one time taking the subway in the wrong direction with two high school friends (a mistake that will be familiar to every tourist and most residents, as well), and screaming, “We’re going to Brooklyn!” when our train pulled out of the tunnel and onto the Manhattan Bridge. I moved to Brooklyn about six years after that subway ride, and I’ve taken the train over the Manhattan Bridge between work and home countless times since then. I’ve come to think of it as “my bridge” and the D as “my train.” I suppose that feeling that something huge and defying ownership can nonetheless be “yours”: that’s Brooklyn.
What does a poetry community mean to you? Have you found that here? Why or why not?
There is a huge and lively poetry community in Brooklyn; occasionally, I even make it to a reading and interact with other poets “in the wild” at Berl’s Brooklyn Poetry Shop or Pete’s Candy Store or Unnameable Books (which are all great places to start if you’re new in town). One of the disadvantages of self-employment as a writer and editor is a certain amount of enforced solitude, and I don’t take advantage of the plentiful resources or events as much as I’d like. But I’d say that’s more about me, and less about what Brooklyn has to offer.
Tell us about some Brooklyn poets who have been important to you.
There have of course been many, but I’d like to give a particular shout-out to Emily Brandt of Brooklyn’s No, Dear journal and press, whom I first met in 2006 or 2007 in a poetry workshop at the 92nd St Y. Emily and I had an instant admiration for each other’s writing, and she kindly invited me to join a small, informal writing group of women poets in Brooklyn that was soul-nourishing in that awkward stretch of years between finishing college and figuring out what the heck came next. No, Dear was in its infancy then, and along with other Brooklyn poets Alex Cuff, Katie Moeller and Jane Van Slembrouck, Emily published the first issue in 2008, and the journal has since expanded to include a reading series and partner with Small Anchor Press to publish chapbooks.
Who were your poetry mentors and how did they influence you?
I came to writing through an academic environment, meaning my mentorship relationships have been primarily with faculty poets, first at Sarah Lawrence, then at Syracuse. As an undergraduate, I studied with Kate Knapp Johnson, who served as my Don, then Jeffrey McDaniel, and finally Mark Wunderlich. As a graduate student, I studied with Bruce Smith, Michael Burkard, Brooks Haxton and Christopher Kennedy in poetry, and George Saunders in fiction. Each writer has left their own mark: who I read, how I thought about revision, how I approached drafting, how I contextualized writing among the broader practice of being a human in the world.
Tell us about the last book(s) and/or poem(s) that stood out to you and why.
Ruth Baumann and Kamden Hilliard are the two poets I’ve most recently published through our chapbook series at Black Lawrence Press, which I say not in a self-promotional way, but because I’ve spent many recent hours reading, editing and drinking in their work—and they haven’t stopped blowing me out of the water. Ruth’s chapbook is Retribution Binary, a long poem in two parts exploring the psychological and spiritual mayhem of the loss of body ownership following trauma, how one both takes that back and can never take it back. Kam’s chap is Perceived Distance from Impact, and the poems in their collection use erasure, remixing, imagining and humor in an attempt to stitch together a self in a world uninterested in the process.
What are some books or poems you’ve been meaning to read for years and still haven’t gotten to?
Anne Carson’s Nox. Mark Doty’s Sweet Machine. The s#dw$i88w%ik journals sitting on my bookshelf like sad, forgotten puppies.
Describe your reading process. Do you read one book at a time, cover to cover, or dip in and out of multiple books? Do you plan out your reading in advance or discover your next read at random? Do you prefer physical books or digital texts? Are you a note-taker?
With poetry, I’m definitely a dip-in-and-dip-out kind of reader. I rarely read cover-to-cover unless I’ve been assigned a collection for class (when I used to be a student!). Chapbooks are an exception to this; I often read a chapbook in one sequential sitting since the length of the form easily allows for this. I strongly prefer physical books when I’m reading poetry, although I rely heavily on my Kindle reader for manuscript submissions. I’m a shameless underliner and check-marker, but keep your highlighters away from my books!
What’s one thing you’d like to try in a poem or sequence of poems that you haven’t tried before?
I’d like to play more with character in my poems. Ever since I’ve been writing fiction, I’ve been thinking more and more about ways the forms can benefit one another, but I haven’t yet put those ideas into action.
Where are some places you like to read and write (besides home, assuming you like to be there)?
I love reading on the subway, on the treadmill, on train rides and flights. I do so much reading on the train and at the gym! I can really only write at home, though. I’m not a coffee shop or outdoors writer. I admire writers that can work anywhere; I am not one of them.
What are some Brooklyn spaces you love? Why?
Coney Island is my favorite place in Brooklyn. I love the carnival atmosphere in the summer, I love going to see the Cyclones play at MCU Park, I love the Wonder Wheel and I love that I’m a ten-minute subway ride from the beach. I also love the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, 5th Ave in Park Slope, the amazing houses in Ditmas Park and the walk along the water in Bensonhurst Park.
Fill in the blanks in these lines by Whitman:
I celebrate 1991, and sing 1991,
And what I mosquito you shall libido,
For every spirit belonging to me as good as belongs to you.
Why Brooklyn?
Pizza!
INTERVIEW WITH KIT FRICK: DEBUT NOVELIST, POET & WORD GENIUS
POSTED ON AUGUST 16, 2018
by ameliab
kitfrickportrait34_credit-carly-gaebe-steadfast-studio.jpg
Kit Frick is a novelist, poet, and MacDowell Colony fellow. Originally from Pittsburgh, PA, she studied creative writing at Sarah Lawrence College and received her MFA from Syracuse University. When she isn’t putting complicated characters in impossible situations, Kit edits poetry and literary fiction for a small press, edits for private clients, and mentors emerging writers through Pitch Wars. Her debut young adult novel is See All the Stars (Simon & Schuster / Margaret K. McElderry Books, August 14, 2018), and her debut full-length poetry collection is A Small Rising Up in the Lungs (New American Press, September 4, 2018).
Hi, Kit! I’m so glad you agreed to do this interview!
So **cracks knuckles** let’s get this started!
Intense and volatile female friendships are a major theme in your book. What inspired this? Also, what are some of your favorite books (or other media)that explore this topic?
See All the Stars_Kit Frick
KIT: It’s been my experience—and the experience of many women in my life—that friendships between women in adolescence and early adulthood are rarely simple. They’re intense—intensely good, intensely close, intensely consuming, intensely critical,intensely imbued with meaning, intensely fraught with the trappings of personal identity formation and navigating an often unforgiving social world.
The friendships between Ellory and Ret (and among Ellory and Ret and their other friends) in See All the Stars are by no means autobiographical, but those character relationships do feel very personal to me, as the nuances of the friendships that populated my high school and young adult years are still so vivid, even today. I think this is the case for many women—current teens and young adults and fully-adult-adults. We feel those friendships deeply. They’re heightened in both our experience and our memory.
There are so many rich, nuanced fictional representations of friendships among teen girls in books and other media. A few YA novels that really get at the heart of things are Always Forever Maybe by Anica Mrose Rissi, Underneath Everything by Marcy Beller Paul, and A Line in the Dark by Malinda Lo. One adult novel that absolutely knocked my socks off for its portrayal of a volatile teen girl friendship is Girls on Fire by Robin Wasserman. On television, an evergreen favorite (of yours and mine!) is My So-Called Life, and more recently I’ve loved Pretty Little Liars for its heightened—and at times hyperbolic—yet still identifiable portrayal of a friend group with high highs and very low lows.
SEE ALL THE STARS is set in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and having lived near there myself, I really appreciated all the regional details that you included! For you, to what extent does setting influence storytelling?
KIT: I’m so thrilled you connected with the central Pennsylvania setting! I find setting to be extremely important as a writer; writing setting is almost like writing another character. For See All the Stars, I chose a setting that was “teenage-adjacent” for me; in other words, I grew up in Pittsburgh, which is in southwestern PA, and I wanted to be able to tap into that Pennsylvania landscape for my debut without tying myself too closely to the “reality” of my own adolescent stomping grounds.
So far, I’ve chosen settings with which I have a personal connection for all my projects. My second book is set primarily in West Virginia, in a fictional region of the panhandle modeled closely after Fayette County, PA, which is geographically very nearby despite being in a different state, and there are also a few scenes in Pittsburgh! My work-in-progress is set in New York City, where I live now, and south Florida, where I’ve spent
quite a bit of time visiting family. I’ve stayed close to my personal experience in all these books so that I can bring in the details that will bring the setting vividly to life on the page, and also so I can allow the setting to have its influence on the characters and how they move through the world.
Ah, very exciting to hear about these new settings! I’m super fascinated by Florida, which I’ve found to be such a fascinating mix of urban and depressed spaces within some amazing natural beauty.
Okay, next question…
I was really struck by how beautifully written your book was, so I was delighted to discover that you also have a book of poetry scheduled to come out this fall. Do you find that there are synergies for you writing in these two literary forms? Do you see yourself ever writing a YA novel in verse?
KIT: Thank you so much! And yes, my first book of poetry, A Small Rising Up in the Lungs, releases this fall from New American Press, which is very exciting.
I developed an ear for diction and tone through studying poetry—both through reading and writing. In some ways, the two forms require very different compartments of my writer’s “toolbox.” When I’m plotting and structuring a novel, I’m using my creative brain in a very different way than when I’m drafting a poem. But when it comes to sentence-level concerns (how a sentence sounds, how it works with the sentences that precede and follow, how the choice of a specific verb or modifier can work to create mood or suggest a specific understanding) that’s where my brain is tapping into my poetic background.
And I love YA novels in verse! I recently got my hands on an advanced copy of Juleah del Rosario’s 500 Words or Less, which is coming out in September from Simon Pulse, and it’s sooooooo good! Whether or not I will attempt to “combine forces” and write my own novel in verse remains to be seen, but I can’t say I’ve never thought about it!
The road to being published is a long and complicated one for many writers. Now that you’re on the verge of your novel being launched, what have been some of your favorite moments in your debut journey?
KIT: There have been a lot of amazing moments along the way. Most days I’m still
pinching myself. It’s a classic answer, but receiving that offer of representation from my agent, Erin Harris, was the first amazing milestone moment. I was at work, at my former job at NYU, and I almost started crying at my desk. Then receiving the offer of publication from my editor, Ruta Rimas at McElderry, a few months later was surreal. For that one, I was at a writing residency at the MacDowell Colony, without any cell service and very limited internet, so just connecting with my agent and future publisher about the offer was a kind of epic feat. From there, the day the initial cover design landed in my inbox, the day the book went up for pre-order, connecting with all the amazing authors in my debut group—like you!—and attending launch parties for fellow debuts, learning the book would be sold in-store in Target, receiving those first excited emails from readers … It’s been an amazing whirlwind.
Last—but not least!—can you tell me anything about your next project?
KIT: My next book is a YA thriller about two girls under unbearable pressure from their families and communities—and what happens when they decide to stop compromising. I just reviewed my copyedits and got them turned in, which means the manuscript is being typeset now, which is very exciting. It’s scheduled to come out in summer 2019, also from Simon & Schuster/McElderry Books, and I’ll be able to share a lot more about it later this year!
Thanks so much, that sounds utterly tantalizing!
Want to learn more about Kit? Go to her website or follow her on social media at:
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Want to go ahead and order a copy of SEE ALL THE STARS? Here are a bunch of options:
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Barnes & Noble
Amazon
Books-A-Million
Book Depository
SHORT BIO:
PHOTO: © CARLY GAEBE / STEADFAST STUDIO
Kit Frick is a novelist, poet, and MacDowell Colony fellow. Originally from Pittsburgh, PA, she studied creative writing at Sarah Lawrence College and received her MFA from Syracuse University. When she isn’t putting complicated characters in impossible situations, Kit edits poetry and literary fiction for a small press, edits for private clients, and mentors emerging writers through Pitch Wars. Her debut young adult novel is See All the Stars (Simon & Schuster / Margaret K. McElderry Books, 2018), and her debut full-length poetry collection is A Small Rising Up in the Lungs (New American Press, fall 2018). A second YA novel, All Eyes on Us, will follow in 2019.
LONGER BIO:
Kit Frick is a writer living in Brooklyn, NY. She is the author of the young adult novel See All the Stars (Simon & Schuster / Margaret K. McElderry Books, 2018) and the poetry collection A Small Rising Up in the Lungs (New American Press, fall 2018). All Eyes on Us, a second YA novel, will follow in 2019. Kit is also the author of two poetry chapbooks: Echo, Echo, Light (Slope Editions, 2013) and Kill Your Darlings, Clementine (Rye House Press, 2013).
Originally from Pittsburgh, PA, Kit studied creative writing at Sarah Lawrence College and received her MFA from Syracuse University. She is a Senior Editor at Black Lawrence Press, where she edits the nationally distributed chapbook series. She is also a Book Coach for Author Accelerator, Founding Editor of the private editorial practice Copper Lantern Studio, and a Pitch Wars mentor. Kit has been awarded residency fellowships to the MacDowell Colony, the Constance Saltonstall Foundation for the Arts, and the Kimmel Harding Nelson Center for the Arts. Her fiction is represented by Erin Harris at Folio Literary Management / Folio Jr.
FUN FACTS:
Favorite color: green
Favorite city where I’ve never lived: Portland, OR
Hogwarts house: Slytherin (yes, really)
Zodiac sign: Virgo/Libra cusp
First album purchase: Spin Doctors, Pocket Full of Kryptonite (on cassette tape)
First concert w/o parental supervision: Alanis Morissette, Jagged Little Pill tour
High school sport: dance
High school aesthetic: awkward almost-punk / theater chic / Spring 1997 dELiA*s catalogue
Writing fuel: cold brew iced coffee, french vanilla black tea, Smartfood, gummy bears
Editorial Assistants: Katie & Francie, literary felines
AND IF YOU’RE REALLY CURIOUS:
I also hold an MA in Higher Education from NYU and worked there for many years as an academic administrator before leaving to pursue writing and editing full-time.
While I don’t hold a degree in publishing (three master’s seemed to verge on the excessive), I have studied with book editors, copyeditors, and literary agents through NYU’s Center for Publishing.
While in college, I interned at Simon & Schuster. After graduation, I began my editorial career at S&S as an editorial assistant. Now, my YA novels are being published by one of S&S’s children’s imprints, McElderry Books. Sometimes you really can come home again!
When I’m not working, you can find me reading, hanging out with my husband and cats, tinkering with recipes, playing table top games like Seven Wonders and Dominion, watching Pittsburgh Penguins hockey (let’s go Pens!), and revisiting my adolescence through music and television.
Frick, Kit. See All the Stars
Kirsten Pickel
Voice of Youth Advocates. 41.3 (Aug. 2018): p58.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2018 E L Kurdyla Publishing LLC
http://www.voya.com
Full Text:
Frick, Kit. See All the Stars. Margaret K. McElderry/Simon & Schuster, August 2018. 320p. $18.99. 978-1-53440-437-3.
4Q * 4P * S
When Ellory returns to Pine Brook after a four-month absence, all she wants is to keep her head down and attract as little attention as possible. A year ago, she felt invincible: she was in love with Matthias and best friends with beautiful, enigmatic Ret. Now she enters senior year completely alone, without anyone to shield her from her classmates' taunts and her own recollections of the tragic events of the previous spring. Through flashbacks, Ellory describes being part of Refs circle, which also includes Jenni and Bex. Ret can be full of fun and adventure; she is also jealous and manipulative, often pitting the girls against each other. When Ellory meets Matthias, she feels an instant connection. He is kind and funny, and he has a burgeoning career as a music critic. He is also fiercely protective of his little sister, Cordelia, because of their largely absent parents. Ellory falls for Matthias and loves spending time with him and his sister; it is a welcome respite from the drama of her friendships. Large parts of Matthias's life seem closed off to Ellory, though, and she knows he is hiding something from her. When Ellory sees Matthias and Ret emerging from the woods together, her two worlds collide, leading to a web of secrecy, confusion, and, ultimately, tragedy.
This is a multilayered story about love, friendship, and personal responsibility. In her debut, Frick beautifully pens a compelling tale with which her audience will relate; the sweetness of first love and the burning sting of betrayal are relatable to most. It will appeal to fans of mystery and realistic fiction alike.--Kirsten Picket.
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
Pickel, Kirsten. "Frick, Kit. See All the Stars." Voice of Youth Advocates, Aug. 2018, p. 58. General OneFile, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A551167818/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=4ba4dd12. Accessed 21 Sept. 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A551167818
See All the Stars
Publishers Weekly. 265.25 (June 18, 2018): p106+.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2018 PWxyz, LLC
http://www.publishersweekly.com/
Full Text:
See All the Stars
Kit Frick. McElderry, $18.99 (320p) ISBN 9781-5344-0437-3
At 16, Ellory May thought she had everything figured out. Her squad--Ret, Bex, and Jenni--spent an almost perfect summer together, and things got even better after Ellory met Matthias and the two began to fall in love. Now 18, Ellory is returning to school for the first time after an incident the previous spring. Though no one outwardly blames Ellory for what happened, she has become a social outcast, friendless and brokenhearted. Debut novelist Frick divides her narrative into "then" and "now" chapters, slowly weaving together a story that highlights the sometimes claustrophobic nature of teen friendships. Frick nails Ret's mean-girl manipulation of her' circle of best buddies: "Ret Johnston was the sun. Hot, bright, at the center of our universe. That we revolved around her was simply a fact." Equally impressive is how Frick slowly peels away the story's truths, leaving the reader to question everything, including Ellory's mental health. Taut and riveting, Frick's psychological thriller will keep readers on the edge of their seats. Ages 14-up. Agent: Erin Harris, Folio Literary Management. (Aug.)
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
"See All the Stars." Publishers Weekly, 18 June 2018, p. 106+. General OneFile, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A544712500/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=36882a87. Accessed 21 Sept. 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A544712500
Frick, Kit: SEE ALL THE STARS
Kirkus Reviews. (June 1, 2018):
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2018 Kirkus Media LLC
http://www.kirkusreviews.com/
Full Text:
Frick, Kit SEE ALL THE STARS McElderry (Young Adult Fiction) $18.99 8, 14 ISBN: 978-1-5344-0437-3
Relationship extremes take center stage in this debut about a teen navigating her new reality as an outcast following a life-changing event.
As Ellory grimly approaches her senior year, readers only know that she's returning to her high school, seeking solitude after being suspended and spending the summer away at an art camp. Chapters flashing back to the previous year alternate with the present, slowly revealing the details of a tightknit but often jealous friendship among Ellory, Jenni, Bex, and their leader, Ret, as well as Ellory's experience with a first love that was also rife with its own problems. Evocative phrasing steeped in the novel's richly melancholy tone vaunts this story above simple melodrama. Tightly controlled pacing allows time for the audience to come to really care about Ellory even as they cringe at some of her more painfully desperate moments with her boyfriend, Matthias. The reveal of what happened junior year is horrifying though replete with a common-to-thrillers twist that careful readers will see coming. However, the conclusion is still satisfying. Ellory, Ret, Jenni, and Matthias seem to be white, Bex is Moroccan and French-Canadian, and there are ethnically diverse background characters.
A gripping and atmospheric contemporary thriller that excels in portraying the complex intensity of its characters. (Fiction. 14-18)
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
"Frick, Kit: SEE ALL THE STARS." Kirkus Reviews, 1 June 2018. General OneFile, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A540723235/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=83553bc7. Accessed 21 Sept. 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A540723235
FRICK, Kit. See All the Stars
Morgan O'Reilly
School Library Journal. 64.8 (Aug. 2018): p72+.
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Full Text:
FRICK, Kit. See All the Stars. 320p. S. & S./ Margaret K. McElderry Bks. Aug. 2018. Tr $18.99. ISBN 9781534404373. POP
Gr 10 Up--Then: four best friends are inseparable. Now: Ellory is alone. Then: Ellory meets her first boyfriend and falls head over heels in love. Now: Ellory is returning to school after time oft with no boyfriend and no friends. This novel is told in alternating time periods between then and now, and readers will push forward to figure out what has left Ellory boyfriend- and friendless. They will feel compassion for Ellory as she is ignored, bullied, and isolated, and seeks salvation through therapy and art. The dynamic of the four best friends is an overdramatization of the hierarchy of high school relationships between girls. Ret, the leader of the friend group, is troubled yet alluring and somehow has an unrealistic hold over the other three girls, who are dependent on her. The characters are flawed and layered; readers will relate to at least one of them. Fans of E. Lockhart's We Were Liars will enjoy this thriller/mystery/love story. Talk of underage drinking and hard drug use makes this more appropriate for older teens. The prose in Frick's fast-paced debut will pull readers in immediately. VERDICT A coming-of-age novel that hits all the stops--drama, friendships, and first love--and would be an excellent choice for YA shelves.--Morgan O'Reilly, Riverdale Country School, NY
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
O'Reilly, Morgan. "FRICK, Kit. See All the Stars." School Library Journal, Aug. 2018, p. 72+. General OneFile, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A548561755/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=a7dcf1b1. Accessed 21 Sept. 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A548561755