Being Fishkill

ISBN: 0763684422

Author: Lehrer, Ruth

Condition: Used

Fishkill Carmel fends for herself, with her fists if need be - until a thwarted lunch theft introduces her to strange, sunny Duck-Duck and a chance for a new start.Born in the backseat of a moving car, Carmel Fishkill was unceremoniously pushed into a world that refuses to offer her security, stability, love. At age thirteen, she begins to fight back. Carmel Fishkill becomes Fishkill Carmel, who deflects her tormenters with a strong left hook and conceals her secrets from teachers and social workers. But Fishkills fierce defenses falter when she meets eccentric optimist Duck-Duck Farina, and soon they, along with Duck-Ducks mother, Molly, form a tentative family, even as Fishkill struggles to understand her place in it. This fragile new beginning is threatened by the reappearance of Fishkills unstable mother - and by unfathomable tragedy. Poet Ruth Lehrers young adult debut is a stunning, revelatory look at what defines and sustains family. And, just as it does for Fishkill, meeting Duck-Duck Farina and her mother will leave readers forever changed.