Lush
by
Natasha Friend
by
Natasha Friend
Bibliography: Friend, N. (2006). Lush. New York, NY: Scholastic Press.
Summary: Sam has a secret that she can't and doesn't want to tell. She has been schooled not to. Her dad is a drunk. She can't depend on him, he doesn't remember being loud and mean the next day, and continually promises to change- but doesn't. Sam is getting older and wiser and she IS DONE! Her mother and grandmother make excuses and pretend everything is just great. In the midst of a crisis brought on when her drunken father hits her little brother in the face with a liquor bottle, Sam makes a poor drinking choice herself and gets in a bad situation at a party. Because of this, she stands to lose her friends and her reputation. A new friend she has made through secret notes in the library tries to help her and becomes a surprisingly important person in her life.
My Take: This is an important book. It shows kids what truly happens when a parent is an alcoholic and all of the sordid things that go with it. I bet this book has saved more than a few kids from feeling alone and helpless. Sam's story drew me in and I cared about her right away. I wish there was another book to continue this story, but the important points were made and things were mostly wrapped up- no one in real life knows if their recovering alcoholic will stay sober, so why should the reader?
Reviews:
After years of pretending she has a “normal” family, a worried teen finally confronts her father’s alcoholism. Thirteen-year-old Samantha knows her father has a drinking problem, but her parents seem oblivious. Sam’s father makes empty promises to stop drinking while her mother immerses herself in yoga classes, defending her husband as a “good man.” Although Sam carefully camouflages the situation by inviting friends over only when her father’s away, his binges are getting worse and she’s afraid he will lose control. Desperate to confide in someone other than her friends, Sam leaves notes in the library asking for advice from an older girl she doesn’t really know. When her drunken father injures her little brother and the family’s future is jeopardized, Sam must deal with anger and uncertainty as she makes some surprising discoveries about her family, her friends and herself. Sam comes across as a savvy as well as naïve teen who tells her own story with humor, honesty and hope. Realistic family drama.
Lush (review). (2006). Kirkus Reviews 52(11). Retrieved from https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/natasha-friend/lush/
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This is the story of a 13 year old girl in eighth grade. Her dad Is a major alcoholic. Or as she calls it he is a lush. But this isn't a sad story in which the dad leaves the family and everything falls apart. No, this story is how her actions and perseverance save their family.
Sam decides to keep her fathers drinking habits secret. Everything wells up in her with no one to tell. She can't even talk to her own mom.
Now, Sam decides to talk about it. But not to her friends. She visits the library every day after school, and one day she leaves a note inside a book that has never been checked out. She thinks a girl named Juliet gets it and is writing. But when the note comes back each time with a signature AJK she isn't so sure anymore.
This gorgeously written book is extremely exciting. Natasha Friend has the first hand experience of a father being an alcoholic so this is anything but corny. I know you, as I did, will grow to love Sam, her little brother Luke, and her yoga crazy mom.
Lush is for anyone in middle school. If you are in eight grade or above you will really understand. But I warn you there is some pretty crazy things that happen in this book, so be prepared.
I would say that this is the kind of book that will get you to bawl, and yet laugh at the same time. This book I so cute, at sometimes I wish I could be Sam for a while. This is a truly great book.
Sam decides to keep her fathers drinking habits secret. Everything wells up in her with no one to tell. She can't even talk to her own mom.
Now, Sam decides to talk about it. But not to her friends. She visits the library every day after school, and one day she leaves a note inside a book that has never been checked out. She thinks a girl named Juliet gets it and is writing. But when the note comes back each time with a signature AJK she isn't so sure anymore.
This gorgeously written book is extremely exciting. Natasha Friend has the first hand experience of a father being an alcoholic so this is anything but corny. I know you, as I did, will grow to love Sam, her little brother Luke, and her yoga crazy mom.
Lush is for anyone in middle school. If you are in eight grade or above you will really understand. But I warn you there is some pretty crazy things that happen in this book, so be prepared.
I would say that this is the kind of book that will get you to bawl, and yet laugh at the same time. This book I so cute, at sometimes I wish I could be Sam for a while. This is a truly great book.
H., Hannah. Lush by Natasha Friend (review). [Web log entry]. Retrieved from http://www.teenink.com/reviews/book_reviews/article/33141/Lush-by-Natasha-Friend/
Use in a School Library: It would be interesting to do a unit in a high school library on real-life issues covered in literature. The class could choose the topics, things like drug use, drunk driving, teenage or family alcoholism, suicide, homosexuality, bullying, sex, etc. I could provide a list of appropriate books dealing with each topic, Lush being one of them. The kids could give a summary of the book- perhaps a book talk- and tell what they learned from the book about dealing with the issue at hand. A list of books used for this unit should be posted somewhere in the library so that kids dealing with these issues might have something of quality to read dealing with an issue close to them, and perhaps helping them through it.
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