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Upcoming
events:
April
17 Albany Book Festival (http://www.albanyacademies.org/news/news_full.cfm?ID=194)
April
22 and 23 The Writers Project (http://writersproject.sunyacc.edu/)
May
16 Hudson Book
Festival (http://hudsonchildrensbookfestival.com/)
May
21 Welles-Turner
Memorial Library in Glastonbury, CT. (http://www.wtmlib.com/)
About the Author
Peter Marino is an English professor and playwright whose first play has been
produced in festivals around the country. He lives with his spouse, G.A.
Broadwell, and their two "children," Ofi and Scratchbat (a dog and a
bat, but not just any old dog and bat) in
TJ adores her gay
best friend, Pan. He is a golden boy--gorgeous, witty and sophisticated, so
different from the redneck troglodyte teenage boys in her blue-collar town. TJ
and Pan are inseparable until Caspar, the thoughtful football player in their
English class enters the picture. Convinced she would never have a real
boyfriend, TJ is thrilled when Caspar asks her out. But their romance
jeopardizes her relationship with Pan, which becomes strained and
unpredictable. Trenchant wit and
unflinching honesty distinguish this unforgettable story in which magic and
misery weave through true friendship and first love.
Reading level: Young Adult
Publisher: Holiday House
(March 15, 2009)
# ISBN-13: 978-0823421336
Starred
Review from American Library Association Booklist:
At 17, TJ has never
had a boyfriend, and she is sure the reason is that she is “stout and sturdy.”
After she bonds with James (Pan), the gorgeous new guy in her small-town high school,
she dreams that they will hook up, even after Pan comes out and tells the class
that he is gay. And even after she dates Caspar, an interesting, thoughtful
football star with whom she has sex, she stays close with her “nonboyfriend,”
and the three form a friendship triangle. There is jealousy and tension: who
will escort TJ to the prom? And what’s so great about the prom, anyway? Pan is
a bit too perfect in every way; but TJ’s first-person narrative expresses her
mixed feelings of anger, anxiety, and love with rare honesty and depth. The
story is also open about the vicious homophobia among some of Pan’s
schoolmates, as well as the class differences (she is ashamed to bring wealthy
Pan home to her shabby apartment). The messages grow from the story; even the
dialogue with adults who give TJ condoms and warn her about STDs and unwanted
pregnancies is well integrated. Best of all is the drama of physical attraction
and friendship in all its intensity.
— Hazel Rochman
Dough Boy by Peter Marino
Overweight fifteen-year-old Tristan, who lives with his divorced mother
and her boyfriend, Frank, suddenly finds his life turned upside down when
Frank’s popular but troubled, nutrition-obsessed daughter, Kelly, moves in. As
he faces increasing abuse about his weight at home and at school, the hurt of
his former best friend pairing off with Kelly, and the anxiety of a crush, he
manages to find peace in taking his own path.
Reading level: Young Adult
Publisher:
ISBN-13: 978-0-8234-2096-4 (paperback)
Review from School Library Journal
Gr 7-10-In this funny but
heart-wrenching story, 15-year-old Tristan spends one week with his college-professor
mom and her boyfriend Frank, and the next with his college-professor dad and
his girlfriend, and the situation works for everyone. Tristan's excess weight
has always bothered him but since both of his parents live with heavy partners,
he's been able to deal with it. But all that changes when Frank's daughter
moves in. Beautiful, calorie-conscious Kelly turns heads, but her mouth is
lethal as she immediately zeroes in on Tristan's weight and twists a knife into
the wounds that she inflicts on his self-esteem. Things go from bad to worse as
her cruelty, added to the casual torment by other students, finally causes
Tristan to recognize that he needs to remove himself from the toxic atmosphere
and live exclusively with his dad, and to find coping mechanisms to help him
deal with the school atmosphere. The ending is hopeful as the teen regains his
humor and discovers how much he enjoys cross-country skiing. A priority
purchase for all libraries serving teens.-Susan Riley, Mount Kisco Public Library,
NY
Nominated
by the American Library Association for
Best Books for Young Adults 2006
|
New
Book! Alice
Blunt a
new YA novel, will be published by Holiday House in 2010. |
Link to Holiday House
School Visits
Peter
has taught writing for 23 years. He can tailor school visits to your individual
curriculums. He can talk about his work and his writing experiences, or he can
involve the class in a workshop focusing on developing character, plot and
theme. Or all of these!
Contact
Information:
518-743-2300,
x2603
518-832-7709
fax
pmarino300@yahoo.com or
marinop@sunyacc.edu
www.sunyacc.edu/~marinop/home.html
The Reviews Are In:
Kirkus Reviews – October
15, 2005:
Fifteen year old Tristan
reports his enduring humiliation and bullying in this humorous tale about
living under a yoke of criticism. Tristan’s newly divorced mother moves in with
a sweet man named Frank. Frank’s daughter Kelly despises fatness. Despite the
presence of two adults, she takes control of the household food and glares if
Tristan even looks at an oatmeal cookie.
Frank’s gentleness melts into passivity and Tristan’s mom is no help: the house
deteriorates into fighting and misery. Sadly, Kelly’s family victims have
difficulty standing up for themselves
with any clarity or result until nearly the end. At school, peers taunt Tristan
and trip him in the cafeteria. Marino is to be commended for avoiding the usual
pitfalls of this topic (fat character must lose weight to gain self-esteem); in
fact, Tristan’s droll attitude is one of the highlights of his character. The
material details of Tristan’s life don’t change much over the story’s arc,
though by the end, he has begun to take control for himself. Insightful.
(Fiction. YA)
2005
Booklist
– October 15, 2005:
Gr. 7–10. Fifteen-year-old Tristan
has always been fat. This has never particularly bothered him because Mom and
her boyfriend, Frank, aren’t upset about it, and because his best friend
Marcos’ popularity has always shielded him from bullies. All that changes,
however, when Frank’s attractive, weight-conscious daughter, Kelly, moves in.
Tristan is intimidated by her beauty and the scathing arguments she has with
her father, and when she begins dating Marcos, the boys’ friendship fades.
Tristan is miserable, but, fearing Kelly’s scorn, he hesitates to tell his
parents. It’s only after Kelly slaps him during a heated argument that he
decides he’s done turning the other cheek. In his disarming debut, Marino
explores not only bullying and body issues but also blended families and the
lengths to which they’ll go to make their mergers successful. Tristan’s rocky
journey of self-acceptance will appeal to fans of K. L. Going’s Fat Kid
Rules the World (2003), Carolyn Mackler’s The Earth, My Butt, and Other
Big Round Things (2003), and, of course, Robert Lipsyte’s
classic One Fat Summer (1982). —Jennifer Hubert
School Library Journal – November 2005:
Gr 7-10-In
this funny but heart-wrenching story, 15-year-old Tristan spends one week with his
college-professor mom and her boyfriend Frank, and the next with his
college-professor dad and his girlfriend, and the situation works for everyone.
Tristan's excess weight has always bothered him but since both of his parents
live with heavy partners, he's been able to deal with it. But all that changes
when Frank's daughter moves in. Beautiful, calorie-conscious Kelly turns heads,
but her mouth is lethal as she immediately zeroes in on Tristan's weight and
twists a knife into the wounds that she inflicts on his self-esteem. Things go
from bad to worse as her cruelty, added to the casual torment by other
students, finally causes Tristan to recognize that he needs to remove himself
from the toxic atmosphere and live exclusively with his dad, and to find coping
mechanisms to help him deal with the school atmosphere. The ending is hopeful
as the teen regains his humor and discovers how much he enjoys cross-country
skiing. A priority purchase for all libraries serving teens.-Susan Riley, Mount
Kisco Public Library, NY
Publisher’s Weekly – October 2005 Starred Review
Marino, an English
professor and playwright, clearly knows teenagers as well as drama and
comedy--and effectively meshes all three in this insightful first novel. Tristan, the pudgy, levelheaded and
thoroughly sympathetic 15-year-old who narratives, spends alternate weeks with
his recently divorced professor parents, each of whom is involved with someone
who is overweight. In his comical
commentary, he explains how his contentment with his highly functional family
wanes when the daughter of his mother's likable beau, Kelly ("so gorgeous
I was embarrassed to be alive," according to Tristan), comes back to live
with Frank, her father, in whose home Tristan's mother now resides.
Self-righteous and nutrition-obsessed, Kelly criticizes her father and Tristan
for their girths; she begins dating Marco, Tristan's arrogant so-called best
friend, from whom the hero feels increasingly estranged ("Marco was now
very popular at school, and somehow that give me recognition, like a backup
singer"); and she drives a sharp wedge between her father and Tristan's
mother. Tristan's candid, wry narrative
brims with on-target observations (e.g., "Fairness comes in small
lumps. Unfairness comes in
barrels," he notes, discussing Kelly's meteoric rise to popularity at
school and his own comparative anonymity).
Readers will easily feel the boy's anger and will applaud his resilience
and resolve to remain true to himself.
The story's supporting players--especially Tristan's parents--help to
make this a winning debut, at once humorous and heartrending.