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Jeremy’s whole life changed the day his mother left. When his mother leaves with the father of his worst enemy at school, nine year old Jeremy seeks to make sense of her abandonment. He throws himself into recreating the Book of Birds, a collection of drawings that his mother took with her on the day she left. While his father fights his own depression and his sister distances herself from their lives, Jeremy turns whole-heartedly to nature, and finds solace in the quiet comfort of drawing. |
“One of America’s more gifted young writers–and this deeply felt story reaffirms his great promise".
— Tom Brokaw
“The Day My Mother Left is a deeply moving and lucidly expressed short novel by one of our country’s most gifted writers. James Prosek teaches me that what does not destroy us strengthens us."
— Harold Bloom
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The Day My Mother Left by James Prosek |
"Prosek's artist's eye (a "cold, bluish moon," a young girl's skin like snow against a green couch) fills the white space left by his spare language. This novel for young people has all the innocence and beauty of [his] paintings."
— LA Times
"His (Jeremy) growing understanding of his artistic talent, and how it can shore him up and make him stronger, is the message of the book, and it's conveyed in simple, powerful prose. "A"
— EntertainmentWeekly.com
"Unexpected details and insight into a young, mixed-up mind make the book
a pleasing, emotional read for all ages."
— USA Today
"The 26 etchings, mostly of birds, made by Prosek on copper plates and used as chapter headings, are indeed lovely, and give young readers a visual sense of Jeremy's naturalistic world."
— Kirkus
“The author unforgettably captures the way “she (the mother) took almost nothing with her, yet she took everything”—except Jeremy’s talent and his will to survive.”
— New York Times Book Review
“The beautiful, plain, short sentences and the concrete details of the New England forest, ocean, and small town bring close the timeless family drama, based on the author's own experience. Robert Frost comes to mind: Jeremy even learns to build a wall, rock by rock, and he knows he is building himself.”
— Booklist
"Prosek's story is the sort English teachers would love to assign. It is a fine book with a quality of excellence we don't frequently see."
— KLIATT
"Prosek movingly chronicles young Jeremy's emotional upheaval after his mother abandons his family, in this sophisticated novel."
— Publishers Weekly