Perennials: A Novel

Perennials: A Novel

â€œThis highly anticipated coming-of-age novel . . . delivers the perfect sunny trifecta: summer camp drama, growing pains, and the enduring power of female friendships.â€â€”Redbook

At what point does childhood end and adulthood begin? Mandy Bermanâ€™s evocative debut novel captures, through the lens of summer camp both the thrill and pain of growing up.

Rachel Rivkin and Fiona Larkin used to treasure their summers together as campers at Camp Marigold. Now, reunited as counselors after their first year of college, their relationship is more complicated. Rebellious Rachel, a street-smart city kid raised by a single mother, has been losing patience with her best friendâ€™s insecurities; Fiona, the middle child of a not-so-perfect suburban family, envies Rachelâ€™s popularity with their campers and fellow counselors. For the first time, the two friends start keeping secrets from each other. Through them, as well as from the perspectives of their fellow counselors, their campers, and their mothers, we witness the tensions of the turbulent summer build to a tragic event, which forces Rachel and Fiona to confront their pastsâ€”and the adults theyâ€™re becoming.

A seductive blast of nostalgia, a striking portrait of adolescent longing, and a tribute to female friendship,Â Perennials will speak to everyone who still remembers that bittersweet moment when innocence is lost forever.

Praise for Perennials

â€œBerman is at her most insightful when exploring the awkward unfurling of female adolescence. . . . Perennials is a sharp meditation on the changing female body, and the ways in which such changes are often involuntary and unwanted. . . . [She] skillfully captures the details and rituals of camp.â€â€”J. Courtney Sullivan, The New York Times Book Review

â€œBermanâ€™s command of prose is astounding. The more you read, the more difficult it is to believe that this is a debut novel. . . . Charged with hope, longing, an unexpected sensuality, and a bruised tenderness,Â PerennialsÂ is a book you should most definitely put near the top of your reading list.â€â€”Pop Dust

â€œPerennialsÂ is a sharp, crushingly observant, and empathetic debut, full of wit and tragedy, and good for all seasons.â€â€”Sam Lipsyte, author ofÂ The Fun PartsÂ andÂ The Ask

â€œLucid, psychologically nuanced, and great fun to read.â€â€”Rufi Thorpe, author ofÂ Dear Fang, With LoveÂ andÂ The Girls from Corona del Mar

â€œSnappy and irresistible,Â PerennialsÂ takes readers back to summer camp, where her charactersâ€™ first friendships and treasons play out in sharp dialogue and playful, generous prose.â€â€”Kristopher Jansma, author ofÂ Why We Came to the City

â€œPerennialsÂ manages to be warm and loving and still wallop you with moments of shock and pain. What an exciting debut.â€â€”Victor LaValle, author ofÂ Big MachineÂ andÂ The Changeling

â€œBermanâ€™s debut, a winning, keenly observed, and clear-eyed novel set in a summer camp, captures the age when fierce attachments forged over years begin to unravel, passionate female friendships give way to sex, and identity seems to shift with the tides.â€â€”Elissa Schappell, author ofÂ Blueprints for Building Better Girls
Country USA
Brand Random House Books for Young Readers
Manufacturer Random House
Binding Hardcover
ReleaseDate 2017-06-06
UnitCount 1
EANs 9780399589317

Country	USA
Brand	Random House Books for Young Readers
Manufacturer	Random House
Binding	Hardcover
ReleaseDate	2017-06-06
UnitCount	1
EANs	9780399589317

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