Welcome to the Slipstream
-
- $10.99
-
- $10.99
Publisher Description
For fans of Laurie Halse Anderson’s Speak and Judy Gregerson’s Bad Girls Club, this is a deeply moving and exquisite novel about a girl traumatized by her mother’s serious mental illness, and the steps she takes to save her from destruction.
Bright lights, big trouble.
When Van arrives in Las Vegas at the upscale Silver Saddle casino with her mother—a brilliant businesswoman with fragile mental health—she learns that her mother assigned her a college student, Alex, to “babysit” her. Van is used to having to land on her feet—her mother and surrogate grandmother move from city to city all the time like corporate nomads, but she is not thrilled to have someone watching her now.
When Alex introduces Van, a talented musician, to an all-girl Sleater-Kinney-style band, she finally has a chance to let her guitar skills shine. But just as she’s about to play her first gig, her mother is lured to Arizona by a con man promising a “vision quest,” and Van must go on the road to find and save her mom from a self-help cult that could ultimately destroy her.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Seventeen-year-old Van Lowell feels out of her depth after being whisked to yet another city by her mother, Sofia, who runs a consulting business and manages her manic and depressive episodes both with mixed results. Van, Sofia, and Van's longtime nanny, Ida, have just moved from Uzbekistan to Las Vegas, where Sofia will be working with a local casino and hotel. Having been out of medication for weeks, Sofia almost immediately quarantines herself in the hotel, and Van finds a needed outlet by joining a band with her new friend and crush, Alex. After Sofia disappears into the desert with her "astrotherapist" on a spiritual mission, Van heads to Sedona to track her down. The psychological pressures Van is under are deeply felt as she worries that she will become like her mother and struggles to adapt to her family's fluctuating circumstances. While the detour into the realm of cults and con artists makes for a slightly disjointed narrative, Burian sensitively investigates the complexities of caring for someone who has no desire to be saved. Ages 14 up.