I Am Here Now

In 1960, budding artist Maisie reflects on her tumultuous freshman year in the Bronx’s Parkchester community. Maisie’s home is no refuge from her noisy neighborhood—when her Hungarian-American mother isn’t battling it out with her father, she is abusive, belittling Maisie and sometimes turning violent. Maisie uses drawing to escape but still feels like “one quarter of a human being,/ three-quarters longing,/ drowning in emptiness” until she meets Rachel, a girl whose home life is everything Maisie wishes hers was. In Rachel’s bohemian household, Maisie finds it easy to open up to Rachel’s mother, an oil painter, who quickly becomes her mentor. But as Maisie comes into herself, her attraction to Rachel’s gorgeous boyfriend could ruin her newfound happiness. Best known for her picture books, Bottner (What a Cold Needs) draws on all five senses to evoke Maisie’s chaotic world, using expressive verse to portray “what it’s like for me,” from the dark atmosphere of her home to the bright environments of Rachel’s house and her mother’s art studio. Though outside issues make the story line seem scattered at times, the book’s subject matter and themes remain timeless. Ages 14–up. Agent: Rick Richter, Aevitas Creative Management (Aug.)■