Description
WINNER, 2020 Golden Grown Award, Best Young Adult Novel WINNER, Silver Medal, Foreword Reviews Indie Award, Best Young Adult Fiction
WINNER, 2020 Golden Crown Award, Best Debut Novel Fifteen-year-old Eleanor Fromme just chopped off all of her hair. How else should she cope after hearing that her bully, James, just took his own life? When Eleanor's English teacher suggests students write a letter to a person who would never receive it to get their feelings out, Eleanor chooses James.
With each letter she writes, Eleanor discovers more about herself, even while trying to make sense of his death. And, with the help of a unique cast of characters, Eleanor not only learns what it means to be inside a body that does not quite match what she feels on the inside, but also comes to terms with her own mother's mental illness.
Set against a 1993-era backdrop of grunge rock and riot grrl bands, EVERYTHING GROWS depicts Eleanor's extraordinary journey to solve the mystery within her and feel complete. Along the way, she loses and gains friends, rebuilds relationships with her family, and develops a system of support to help figure out the language of her queer identity.
Through author Aimee Herman's exceptional storytelling, EVERYTHING GROWS reveals the value of finding community or creating it when it falls apart, while exploring the importance of forgiveness, acceptance, and learning how to live on your own terms.
National publicity campaign and bound galley outreach targeting reviews and mentions in Publishers Weekly, Kirkus Reviews, Booklist, Library Journal, Foreword Reviews, New York Times, New York Review of Books, Time, People, etc. Regional publicity campaign targeting reviews and mentions in Time Out, Atlantic, New Yorker, New York Magazine, etc. Publicity push to NPR shows and regional college radio programs Bound galley giveaway at ALA Midwinter Meeting and author signing/finished book giveaway at ALA Annual Meeting Online outreach to 200+ book bloggers and booksellers including Rumpus, Book Slut, Good Reads, Book Riot, YA Why Not, YA Books Central, Teen Link, Lambda Literary, etc. Original essays and guest posts by Author to top-rung media outlets including Huffington Post, Daily Beast, Slate, Salon and NPR.org. Additional related online material to be published by author Extensive social media push via blogs, posts, videos and tweets In-store appearances in New York, Philadelphia, Boston, and more
About the Author
Aimee Herman is a two-time Pushcart Prize nominated poet and performance artist based in Brooklyn, New York, looking to disembowel the architecture of gender and what it means to queer the body. Aimee is also the author of two poetry collections, to go without blinking (BlazeVOX books) and meant to wake up feeling (great weather for MEDIA). Her work has been widely published in the U.S. and internationally in literary journals including Lavender Review, EDUCE, Sous Les Pave, and the Lambda Award-winning anthology Troubling the Line: Trans and Genderqueer Poetry and Poetics (Nightboat Books). Aimee has taught at various universities and colleges including: CUNY Grad Center, St Johns University (Queens), Malloy College (Long Island), Stoneybrook University (Long Island), City College of New York, and Metro State (CO). She lives in Brooklyn.
Reviews
High Praise for Everything Grows
WINNER, SILVER MEDAL, FOREWORD REVIEWS 2019 INDIE AWARD For Best Young Adult Fiction
26 of the best LGBTQ Novels We Discovered This Year. "An emotional yet ultimately uplifting journey of self-discovery, acceptance of others, and learning that life is better than the alternative." -The Advocate
26 LGBTQIA+ Titles for Teens "These teen trials and family dynamics are perennially relatable. . . . The conversational writing has appeal, and Eleanor's story will hit home with many teen readers." -School Library Journal
"Awkward, affirming, and compassionate, this story about coming into one's identity will win over the hearts of its young adult audiences." -Foreword Reviews
"An epistolary love song to queer coming-of-age. It is a queer becoming that eludes the inclination toward binary and champions self-discovery as a lifelong project." -BOMB Magazine
12 Most Anticipated Historical YA Fiction of 2019: Fire up some Nirvana and Bikini Kill and check out this one set in 1993 and starring fifteen-year-old Eleanor." -BN Teen Blog
"LGBT YA Books to Get Excited for in 2019" -Autostraddle
"Sensitive and informative." -Booklist
"Page-turning prose . . . with great beauty." -Kirkus Reviews
"Aimee Herman deftly captures what it is to be 15, to be struggling with your identity, transitioning into a new school and a new way of life, and coping with things that none should have to. Eleanor's character had such a poignant and relatable journey, which, combined with stellar writing and explorations of several facets of the LGBTQ+ community (besides Eleanor, there are also more lesbian, bisexual, and transgender characters), made for an unforgettable book." -The Bookish Mutant
"Eleanor's story is a positive one for young people struggling with identity, particularly LGBTQ teens." -You Know You Wanna Read It
"Underscores the importance queer mentors can play in young adult lives and inversely the tragic consequences for queer youth who have no one in their corner . . . Eleanor gives me hope that if we can keep working to uncover our own mysteries and help each other do the same along the way, the world will be a better place." -The Lesbrary
"Everything Grows plants into your heart and tears it apart as it blossoms." -Viva La Feminista
" Everything Grows genuinely felt like reading about a young person's journey through a few months of one of their most tumultuous years." -Delicate Eternity
"A thought-provoking young adult novel that is insightful and reflective. The characters are well-developed and likable. Aimee Herman deftly handles sensitive subject matter in a forthright and realistic manner." -Book Reviews & More by Kathy
"Everything Grows is a sweet and moving read about a young person growing up, coming out, and trying to find the right words to speak their truth." -Easy Vegan
"Everything Grows is a work of healing. It describes coming out as a lifelong process of discovery. Friendship, disfunction, parenting good and bad, and learning to love are unspooled here against a background of exquisite caring. It is the rare read that leaves one a wiser person." Steven Taylor, author, False Prophet: Fieldnotes from the Punk Underground; editor, Don't Hide the Madness: William S. Burroughs in Conversation with Allen Ginsberg
"Set in the decade of grunge rock and ill-advised do-it-yourself body piercings, Aimee Herman's Everything Grows chronicles a sometimes heartbreaking, sometimes funny journey to acceptance, both of self and others. Eleanor Fromme is a witty, kind, and conflicted narrator who could teach many people in our nation a lot about empathy." --Julia Watts, author, Quiver
"Everything Grows is haunting. It touches the darkness of bullying and suicide, yet brims with hope. Aimee Herman's tender debut novel is an achingly real exploration of grief, self-discovery, forgiveness, and love." -Meagan Brothers, author, Weird Girl and What's His Name
"Everything Grows will grow inside you like a revelation, slowly unfolding to a shape that is vulnerable, raw and beautifully alive. . . . There's tender wisdom and a wonderfully rendered young voice that anyone can recognize as human and real-all against a backdrop of riotgrrl rebellion. Teen embodiment becomes self- conscious, painful, and filled with contradictions. Herman writes a real story, teaching everyone a little about life as lived-genuinely and in discovery." -Max Wolf Valerio, Author, The Testosterone Files
Past Praise for Aimee Herman
"Particular and fierce . . . Much like the heartfelt narratives of Lidia Yuknavitch's novels, but Herman's pieces are schisms of a form slowly coming together. By body, by light, by night." -Jacket 2
"This is re-wiring where it counts: below the lexicon. Below the public-private register." -Bhanu Kapil, author, Ban et Banlieue
"The work done in this book is desperately necessary. The next time someone grumbles about the uselessness of poetry, put these poems in their hands." -Rain Taxi
"The grace, honesty, and bravery with which [Herman] addresses issues that many won't touch with a ten-foot pole will shake you to the core." -Blotterature
"A visceral, wide eyed, queer movement that creates 'sturdy retinas' in those of us who participate." J/J Hastain, author Identity Collages
"Aimee Herman celebrates and contradicts our expectations in her disturbing juxtapositions of unexpected images." -Maureen Owen, author, Erosion's Pull
"[Herman's] words are a recipe for seeing differently." -Daphne Gottlieb, author, Pretty Much Dead
Book Information
ISBN 9781941110683
Author Aimee Herman
Format Paperback
Page Count 236
Imprint Three Rooms Press
Publisher Three Rooms Press
WINNER, 2020 Golden Crown Award, Best Debut Novel Fifteen-year-old Eleanor Fromme just chopped off all of her hair. How else should she cope after hearing that her bully, James, just took his own life? When Eleanor's English teacher suggests students write a letter to a person who would never receive it to get their feelings out, Eleanor chooses James.
With each letter she writes, Eleanor discovers more about herself, even while trying to make sense of his death. And, with the help of a unique cast of characters, Eleanor not only learns what it means to be inside a body that does not quite match what she feels on the inside, but also comes to terms with her own mother's mental illness.
Set against a 1993-era backdrop of grunge rock and riot grrl bands, EVERYTHING GROWS depicts Eleanor's extraordinary journey to solve the mystery within her and feel complete. Along the way, she loses and gains friends, rebuilds relationships with her family, and develops a system of support to help figure out the language of her queer identity.
Through author Aimee Herman's exceptional storytelling, EVERYTHING GROWS reveals the value of finding community or creating it when it falls apart, while exploring the importance of forgiveness, acceptance, and learning how to live on your own terms.
About the Author
Aimee Herman is a two-time Pushcart Prize nominated poet and performance artist based in Brooklyn, New York, looking to disembowel the architecture of gender and what it means to queer the body. Aimee is also the author of two poetry collections, to go without blinking (BlazeVOX books) and meant to wake up feeling (great weather for MEDIA). Her work has been widely published in the U.S. and internationally in literary journals including Lavender Review, EDUCE, Sous Les Pave, and the Lambda Award-winning anthology Troubling the Line: Trans and Genderqueer Poetry and Poetics (Nightboat Books). Aimee has taught at various universities and colleges including: CUNY Grad Center, St Johns University (Queens), Malloy College (Long Island), Stoneybrook University (Long Island), City College of New York, and Metro State (CO). She lives in Brooklyn.
Reviews
High Praise for Everything Grows
WINNER, SILVER MEDAL, FOREWORD REVIEWS 2019 INDIE AWARD For Best Young Adult Fiction
26 of the best LGBTQ Novels We Discovered This Year. "An emotional yet ultimately uplifting journey of self-discovery, acceptance of others, and learning that life is better than the alternative." -The Advocate
26 LGBTQIA+ Titles for Teens "These teen trials and family dynamics are perennially relatable. . . . The conversational writing has appeal, and Eleanor's story will hit home with many teen readers." -School Library Journal
"Awkward, affirming, and compassionate, this story about coming into one's identity will win over the hearts of its young adult audiences." -Foreword Reviews
"An epistolary love song to queer coming-of-age. It is a queer becoming that eludes the inclination toward binary and champions self-discovery as a lifelong project." -BOMB Magazine
12 Most Anticipated Historical YA Fiction of 2019: Fire up some Nirvana and Bikini Kill and check out this one set in 1993 and starring fifteen-year-old Eleanor." -BN Teen Blog
"LGBT YA Books to Get Excited for in 2019" -Autostraddle
"Sensitive and informative." -Booklist
"Page-turning prose . . . with great beauty." -Kirkus Reviews
"Aimee Herman deftly captures what it is to be 15, to be struggling with your identity, transitioning into a new school and a new way of life, and coping with things that none should have to. Eleanor's character had such a poignant and relatable journey, which, combined with stellar writing and explorations of several facets of the LGBTQ+ community (besides Eleanor, there are also more lesbian, bisexual, and transgender characters), made for an unforgettable book." -The Bookish Mutant
"Eleanor's story is a positive one for young people struggling with identity, particularly LGBTQ teens." -You Know You Wanna Read It
"Underscores the importance queer mentors can play in young adult lives and inversely the tragic consequences for queer youth who have no one in their corner . . . Eleanor gives me hope that if we can keep working to uncover our own mysteries and help each other do the same along the way, the world will be a better place." -The Lesbrary
"Everything Grows plants into your heart and tears it apart as it blossoms." -Viva La Feminista
" Everything Grows genuinely felt like reading about a young person's journey through a few months of one of their most tumultuous years." -Delicate Eternity
"A thought-provoking young adult novel that is insightful and reflective. The characters are well-developed and likable. Aimee Herman deftly handles sensitive subject matter in a forthright and realistic manner." -Book Reviews & More by Kathy
"Everything Grows is a sweet and moving read about a young person growing up, coming out, and trying to find the right words to speak their truth." -Easy Vegan
"Everything Grows is a work of healing. It describes coming out as a lifelong process of discovery. Friendship, disfunction, parenting good and bad, and learning to love are unspooled here against a background of exquisite caring. It is the rare read that leaves one a wiser person." Steven Taylor, author, False Prophet: Fieldnotes from the Punk Underground; editor, Don't Hide the Madness: William S. Burroughs in Conversation with Allen Ginsberg
"Set in the decade of grunge rock and ill-advised do-it-yourself body piercings, Aimee Herman's Everything Grows chronicles a sometimes heartbreaking, sometimes funny journey to acceptance, both of self and others. Eleanor Fromme is a witty, kind, and conflicted narrator who could teach many people in our nation a lot about empathy." --Julia Watts, author, Quiver
"Everything Grows is haunting. It touches the darkness of bullying and suicide, yet brims with hope. Aimee Herman's tender debut novel is an achingly real exploration of grief, self-discovery, forgiveness, and love." -Meagan Brothers, author, Weird Girl and What's His Name
"Everything Grows will grow inside you like a revelation, slowly unfolding to a shape that is vulnerable, raw and beautifully alive. . . . There's tender wisdom and a wonderfully rendered young voice that anyone can recognize as human and real-all against a backdrop of riotgrrl rebellion. Teen embodiment becomes self- conscious, painful, and filled with contradictions. Herman writes a real story, teaching everyone a little about life as lived-genuinely and in discovery." -Max Wolf Valerio, Author, The Testosterone Files
Past Praise for Aimee Herman
"Particular and fierce . . . Much like the heartfelt narratives of Lidia Yuknavitch's novels, but Herman's pieces are schisms of a form slowly coming together. By body, by light, by night." -Jacket 2
"This is re-wiring where it counts: below the lexicon. Below the public-private register." -Bhanu Kapil, author, Ban et Banlieue
"The work done in this book is desperately necessary. The next time someone grumbles about the uselessness of poetry, put these poems in their hands." -Rain Taxi
"The grace, honesty, and bravery with which [Herman] addresses issues that many won't touch with a ten-foot pole will shake you to the core." -Blotterature
"A visceral, wide eyed, queer movement that creates 'sturdy retinas' in those of us who participate." J/J Hastain, author Identity Collages
"Aimee Herman celebrates and contradicts our expectations in her disturbing juxtapositions of unexpected images." -Maureen Owen, author, Erosion's Pull
"[Herman's] words are a recipe for seeing differently." -Daphne Gottlieb, author, Pretty Much Dead
Book Information
ISBN 9781941110683
Author Aimee Herman
Format Paperback
Page Count 236
Imprint Three Rooms Press
Publisher Three Rooms Press
