Good News interviews UNRAVELING co-author, Lynn Biederman and her mother, Judith West Edelman, on September 11 in Good News Studios. We discuss the book,parenting, being a child and marriage in this two part series.
UNRAVELING
by Michelle Baldini and Lynn Biederman
An ambitious, timely first novel.
Publishers Weekly, starred review
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In UNRAVELING (Delacorte Press, Random House) Ages 14 & up, debut authors Michelle Baldini and Lynn Biederman skillfully explore the impact that a toxic mother-daughter relationship has on the choices a teenager makes.
With out-of-control frizzy hair and a humiliating nickname that just wont go away, fifteen-year-old Amanda Himmelfarb is not the picture of popularity at school. To make matters worse, Amandas mother—whom Amanda calls The Captain—is always battling with her, while her little sister can do no wrong and her dad just does what he can to stay out of The Captains way.
When gorgeous senior Rick offers Amanda The Deal—a real, official date to the homecoming dance in exchange for her virginity—Amanda jumps at the chance. She is certain that a boyfriend will fix all of her problems, but what results is quite the opposite. Smart, sensitive Amanda is nearly undone by The Deal and retreats into her own world, until she discovers her mothers past and with it compassion she never thought possible. Through Amandas healing process, the two grow together and their relationship begins to change.
UNRAVELING is an engaging and heartbreakingly real look at mother-daughter relationships and teen self-identity issues. Baldini and Biederman have created a sharp and brutally honest debut novel that will speak to women and teens confronting their own family relationships and difficult decisions.
Lynn Biederman was featured in The New York Times in a piece about her relationship with her own mother, which partially inspired UNRAVELING. Lynn has worked as a waitress, an insurance broker, a Macys department store manager, a child abuse litigator, an adoption lawyer, a journalist for a nationally syndicated sounds-of-nature radio show, and an elementary and high school librarian. Lynn lives in Bedford, New York, with her husband and their two children. www.lynnbiederman.com
Michelle Baldini works for the School of Library and Information Science at Kent State University in Ohio. She earned a masters degree in library science, specializing in childrens literature, from Long Island University. Michelle lives in Silver Lake, Ohio, with her husband and their four children.
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