Sashi Kaufman: The Other Way Around at Longfellow Books

The Other Way Around by Sashi Kaufman
Maine Author!!
Thursday, March 6th, 7:00pm at Longfellow Books

Maine middle school science and English teacher, Sashi Kaufman shares her debut young adult novel, The Other Way Around.

Teenager Andrew has seen a flash of his future. (Dad: unfinished PhD. Mom: unfulfilling career. Their marriage: unsuccessful.) Based on what he's seen, he's uninspired to put a foot on the well-worn path to the adulthood everyone expects of him. There must be another way around. After a particularly disastrous Thanksgiving (his cousin wets Andrew's bed; his parents were too chicken to tell him his grandmother died), Andrew accidentally (on purpose) runs away and joins the circus. Kind of.

A guy can meet the most interesting people at the Greyhound station at dinnertime on Thanksgiving day. The Freegans are exactly the kinds of friends (living out of an ancient VW camper van, dumpster diving, dressing like clowns and busking for change) who would have Andrew's mom reaching for a third glass of Chardonnay. To Andrew, five teenagers who seem like they've found another way to grow up are a dream come true. But as the VW winds its way across the USA, the future is anything but certain. The path of least resistance is a long, strange trip.

"Debut author Kaufman does a great job of depicting young people who have opted out of conventional middle-class values. Andrew’s position as outsider and observer, coupled with the fact that he hasn’t yet figured out who he is or what he cares about, means that, at times, he fades into the background, but Kaufman patiently builds the insights and experiences that make him more dimensional, not only to readers, but to himself." -Publishers Weekly

Join us for an evening with debut Maine author to hear a great new local voice in young adult fiction, ask your questions and get your books signed.

Event date:

Thursday, March 6, 2014 - 7:00pm

Event address:

One Monument Way

04101-4078 Portland