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Title details for The Birthparents by Frank Santo - Available

The Birthparents

by Frank Santo
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The Bronx. It's America at its most vibrant and chaotic; it's also where one foster care caseworker—a would-be white savior from New England, a twentysomething kid prematurely jaded by the system—takes it upon himself to reunify a troubled birthmother with her children, against the recommendation of his world-weary but wise Hispanic boss. (Nevermind the fact that the mother in question just might have a crush on him—either that, or she's running game for her own purposes. And nevermind the fact that her ex-husband, a serial abuser whose casefile's thick with bruises, just might have killed someone to protect her in the past—and might be willing to do so again.) What follows is a vivid portrait of lives intersecting and colliding as they grapple with timeless issues: poverty and privilege, parenting and responsibility, drug abuse and insanity.
As gritty as a cracked city street, as full of light and shadow as a crumbling row house, as hard to discard as a piece of summer sidewalk bubblegum stuck to your shoe, The Birthparents does for early 21st century New York what Charles Dickens did for mid-19th century London, not only preserving it for posterity but bringing it to life, and showcasing the shared humanity of characters climbing up (or clinging to) every rung on the societal ladder. It's a stunning debut by an incredible new voice—Frank Santo.

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Release date

    September 12, 2023

  • Formats

    • Kindle Book

    • OverDrive Read

      • ISBN: 9781948954822

    • EPUB ebook

      • ISBN: 9781948954822
      • File size: 1179 KB

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • Booklist

      August 1, 2023
      By exploring character--both the moral and fictional kinds--Santo's debut novel tests the human capacity of empathy for others and oneself in heart-wrenching situations in which betrayal runs amok, and forgiveness is nowhere close to the finish line. A former Bronx caseworker himself, Santo intertwines the narrator Lee's present feelings of inadequacy as a father with Lee's previous experience as a social worker in charge of Margarita Sand's case, a distressing one involving the removal of her two children. With graphic descriptions of Lee's work, including scenes of child abuse, drug use, sexual assault, domestic abuse, and mental health crises, Santo's novel continually finds Lee's manager espousing caution: "You can't feel another person's pain."" Another challenge to Lee's empathy is his awareness that he is a white man with financial and social opportunities to leave the Bronx, invoking a thought-provoking consideration of the white savior trope. As his emotionally intense novel winds through twists and turns that make pain, love, and intimacy indistinguishable, Santo's story embraces human nature in all its ugliness.

      COPYRIGHT(2023) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

Formats

  • Kindle Book
  • OverDrive Read
  • EPUB ebook

subjects

Languages

  • English

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