Upstate

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Buckhanon, Kalisha. Upstate. New York, NY: St. Martin’s Press, 2005. Print. ISBN: 9780312332686 Pages: 247 Hardbound US $19.95

Awards:2006 American Library Association ALEX Award
2006 Audio Publishers Association Award in Literary Fiction (Audiobook)
2006 nominee for the Hurston/Wright Foundation's Debut Fiction Award
2006 Buckhanon received the inaugural Terry McMillan Young Author Award
2005 Essence Magazine named Buchanon one of America's "Three Writers To Watch."

Annotation: Antonio has gone to prison for the murder of his father in supposed self-defense; in this story he and his girlfriend exchange letters over the course of a decade discussing the hardships of life in and out of prison.

Index Card Trick
Upstate
by Kalisha Buckhanon

- Letters between Antonio and his girlfriend, Natasha
- Antonio is in prison for the murder of his father: Upstate
- Spans from 1990 to 1999, a decade’s worth of letters
- Antonio writes about the struggles of being a teenager in prison
- Natasha writes about the struggles of simply being a teenager
- They grow apart but remain in each other’s minds
- Secrets are revealed
- Story of hardship, perseverance, and redemption

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Praise for Upstate:

"A realistic love story that's set against an urban backdrop as gritty as its characters are memorable."

--People magazine

"Heartbreaking and true...I'd read it again just for the power of the language."

- Dorothy Allison, National Book Award Finalist and author of Bastard Out of Carolina

"Wild and beautiful...The story is told using the epistolary form with brilliant skill not seen since The Color Purple."

- Sapphire, author of Push

"A literary gem. Upstate is a stunning debut. Completely unforgettable."

- E. Lynn Harris, author of What Becomes of the Brokenhearted

"Upstate is intimate, wrenching...a story about love, surviving love, and the forgiveness that only love brings."

- Achy Obejas, author of Memory Mambo and Days of Awe

"A gripping debut...I was thoroughly impressed."

- Mary Monroe, author of God Still Don't Like Ugly

"Kalisha Buckhanon has unleashed brilliance in this debut novel. Upstate is creative, raw, and honest."

- Darnella Ford, author of Rising and Crave

"A modern love story that is real and raw in its humor and tragedy."

- Zelda Lockhart, winner of the Hurston/Wright Award and author of Fifth Born

Hear Kalisha Buckhanon read an excerpt 

from her novel, Conception!

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