White Lines by Jennifer Banash
Release date: April 4, 2013
A gritty, atmospheric coming of age tale set in 1980s New York City.
Seventeen-year-old Cat is living every teenager’s dream: she has her own apartment on the Lower East Side and at night she’s club kid royalty, guarding the velvet rope at some of the hottest clubs in the city. The night with its crazy, frenetic, high-inducing energy—the pulsing beat of the music, the radiant, joyful people and those seductive white lines that can ease all pain—is when Cat truly lives. But her daytime, when real life occurs, is more nightmare than dream. Having spent years suffering her mother’s emotional and physical abuse, and abandoned by her father, Cat is terrified and alone—unable to connect to anyone or anything. But when someone comes along who makes her want to truly live, she’ll need to summon the courage to confront her demons and take control of a life already spinning dangerously out of control.
Both poignant and raw, White Lines is a gripping tale and the reader won’t want to look away.
Seventeen-year-old Cat is living every teenager’s dream: she has her own apartment on the Lower East Side and at night she’s club kid royalty, guarding the velvet rope at some of the hottest clubs in the city. The night with its crazy, frenetic, high-inducing energy—the pulsing beat of the music, the radiant, joyful people and those seductive white lines that can ease all pain—is when Cat truly lives. But her daytime, when real life occurs, is more nightmare than dream. Having spent years suffering her mother’s emotional and physical abuse, and abandoned by her father, Cat is terrified and alone—unable to connect to anyone or anything. But when someone comes along who makes her want to truly live, she’ll need to summon the courage to confront her demons and take control of a life already spinning dangerously out of control.
Both poignant and raw, White Lines is a gripping tale and the reader won’t want to look away.
Normally I try to get my While You Wait posts up farther in advance, but life happens. At any rate, if you're on a long hold list for White Lines at your library or want some read alikes, I'm hoping to help you out. Normally I try and give you guys four or five recommendations, but I could only think of three this time. For my first two picks, I decided to post more about teenagers who are kind of left to find for themselves.
Anna is mostly on her own, which sounds like a lot like the M.C. in White Lines. She's largely responsible for feeding and taking care of herself, and she doesn't always make the best decisions in terms of school or her career.
While Walls' memoir is non-fiction, it's a fast read that will appeal to Banash's audience. The sense of place throughout this novel is incredible and the descriptions are raw. It's almost physically painful to read about what happens to Jeannette and her siblings.
Okay, so the plot of this one doesn't sound quite as similar, however, I noticed that it's also set in the 80s, so I thought it'd have some appeal.
What other titles would you add to my list?
I haven't heard about White Lines before, and now I'm interested! I ADORED The Glass Castle, and it's always nice seeing other people appreciate it.
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