Michael Winerip

Winerip combines triumph of the spirit with the harsh realities of prejudice. The mentally ill have more than just their sickness to battle. People are afraid of what they do not understand. They make assumptions that all mentally ill are violent, crude, childlike, or sexually deviant. Unlike an obvious injury like a broken leg a schizophrenic or multiple personality disorder cannot wave their affliction in your face and tell you when it will be healed. No one wants the likes of them in their neighborhood. In the pages of 9 Highland Road Winerip pulls back the curtain on the political controversies and uncovers the fear-induced prejudices about group homes for the mentally ill. He does not sugarcoat the harsh realities of childhood traumas that are at the core of some patients' initial break with reality: psychological, verbal and physical abuses in the form of violence, rape, incest and torture. What was particularly stunning were the varying degrees of responsibility families accept regarding the wellbeing of their son or daughter. Winerip also touches lightly on the problem of homelessness and delves more deeply into the miracles of modern medicine.… (altro)

FROM AMAZON: For years, Adam Canfield has been the number-one star reporter for the Harris Elementary/Middle School paper, the Slash. Nowadays he's also the most overprogrammed kid in America. Gladiator quiz bowl, jazz band, statewide test prep class - he's always running somewhere, and nine times out of 10, running late. When does a guy get time to just shoot some baskets anymore?
Then his friend Jennifer talks him into being co-editor of the Slash. Between supervising know-it-all cub reporters and arguing with Principal Marris about which articles will "propel the Good Ship Harris forward," Adam worries he might lose it altogether. But then a third grader delivers a scoop bigger than any of Adam's career, and only Adam can dig deep enough to crack through a cover-up that will rock the very foundations of Harris itself.

From Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times columnist Michael Winerip, here is a first novel that delivers the rush of the newsroom, the adrenaline of a reporter on the trail of a hot story, and some keen insights into human nature - all with a lot of laughs.… (altro)

Adam Canfield is something of a legend. He's a four-pluser and an all-star reporter for The Slash - the Harris Elementary/Middle School student newspaper. After being convinced by his friend, Jennifer, he finds himself as co-editor of the newspaper. Things start off rocky for Adam, but when third-grade reporter Phoebe accidentally reveals a scandal that will shake the Tremble community...things get interesting.

I've never read a book with so many subplots that tie up perfectly in the end. Not even in an adult novel. Michael Winerip managed to keep me glued - somewhat, actually, as it is rather hard to read anything with a newborn around. I wanted to devour this book after things started picking up for Adam. Those of you without newborns rest assured that this book is definitely a page turner.

The characters are beautifully crafted, and Winerip leaves the ending open for a sequel - which there is; two, actually. And while he possibly didn't intend to - but I'm an English major, so I'll draw my conclusions - I love how he carefully placed in the caricature of Fox News (Bolandvision!!!) in there.… (altro)