≫ [PDF] Free An Egg on Three Sticks A Novel Jackie Fischer 9780312317751 Books

An Egg on Three Sticks A Novel Jackie Fischer 9780312317751 Books

Download As PDF : An Egg on Three Sticks A Novel Jackie Fischer 9780312317751 Books

An Egg on Three Sticks A Novel Jackie Fischer 9780312317751 Books

I absolutely loved this book! I am a fan of "coming of age novels" and this one sets the standard high for that genre! Wonderful characters, great premise...didn't want the story to end!


Tags : An Egg on Three Sticks: A Novel [Jackie Fischer] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. Finally Abby is thirteen. A real teenager who only wants to pierce her ears, have a boyfriend, and run her own life. But when her mother suffers a nervous breakdown,Jackie Fischer,An Egg on Three Sticks: A Novel,St. Martin's Griffin,0312317751,Family problems,Family problems - Fiction.,Mental illness - Fiction.,Mothers and daughters,Mothers and daughters - Fiction.,Reading Group Guide,Coming of age,FICTION Coming of Age,FICTION Family Life General,Family Life,Family problems;Fiction.,Fiction,Fiction - General,Fiction General,Fiction-General,GENERAL,Humorous General,Mental illness,Mental illness;Fiction.,Modern fiction,Mothers and daughters;Fiction.,POPULAR AMERICAN FICTION,San Francisco Bay Area (Calif.) - History - 20th century,Humorous,General & Literary Fiction,Modern & contemporary fiction (post c 1945)

An Egg on Three Sticks A Novel Jackie Fischer 9780312317751 Books Reviews

Out of all of the books I have recently read, I would recommend An Egg on Three Sticks by Jackie Fischer the most. I tore through this book during my work breaks, always wondering what would happen next in this fast-paced read.
An Egg on Three Sticks is a both a family story and a coming-of-age story. Set in the 1970s, the breakdown of a mother and the subsequent changes within a nuclear family are related to the reader in young Abby's unique voice. Her thoughts are what keep the book flowing so easily, using slang of the time period as well as the vocabulary and ideas of a young woman struggling to understand what is going on in her house. No matter what era you grew up in, your heart will go out to Abby and her younger sister Lisa. Pick this book up and remember your own shaky transition from childhood to adulthood.
This is the story of thirteen year old Abby, a child who has always had strict parents and a structured, yet loving childhood.

Then she begins to notice small signs that all is not right with her mother; her fears multiply as the signs become more and more disturbing until her mother's condition spirals out of control. Abby adjusts as well as she can but all the while she is desperate for her old life. Abby speaks in believable terms while maintaining the tone of a young teen. My biggest complaint was the use of the present tense, which is a personal pet peeve and not a reflection on the author's style. I loved Abby and my heart broke for her. I know I will be wondering for a long time to come how her life worked out....yes, I know she's fictional but she was brought to life through the author's great sense of writing. This one is recommended.
I loved this book. I loved the unstructured writing style and narrative. It was so refreshing to read a book that didn't sound like the last 50 books I've read. I'm quite shocked that people had anything negative to say about this book. The things that people didn't like about the book, (bad language, poor paragraph form and an unrealistic teenage vocabulary) are surface issues and don't really affect the quality of the writing. (I also feel these are the things that made this book so memorable and easy to read.)

I think the title is representative of the family dynamic of the characters. The mother being the fragile egg and the three sticks being the father and two daughters. But that may be too obvious.

I recommend this book to anyone who is not afraid of a sad story (the back cover tells you upfront that it's sad), and isn't afraid of some colorful language, and a unique writing style. I will be giving this book out for Christmas.
Meet Abby Goodman. She lives in a comfortable suburban San Jose, California, home in the early 1970s with her staid, predictable father, her precociously bright younger sister and her mother, Shirley. It is Shirley's descent into suicidal mental illness that sets Abby's internal compass spinning out of control in Jackie Moyer Fischer's redemptive debut novel, "An Egg on Three Sticks."
Abby is absolutely believable; she is at once self-absorbed and powerfully affected by her mother's erratic, self-destructive behaviors. Abby comes-of-age during a time of extreme family disintegration, and lacking the anchor of a stable mother, her otherwise understandable thirteen-year-old behaviors take on a distorted, desperate cast. In truth, Abby becomes unmoored by her mother's attempted suicide, and her responses, which range from anger to guilt to indifference, reflect themselves in the author's commitment to write from Abby's voice.
This voice reflects a growing sexual awakening, a consciousness of self and a constantly reforming opinion of the very meaning of motherhood. This skewed sensibility influences every decision Abby makes, every action she selects voice her hurt, confusion and outrage. She knows her home is different from all the others in her neighborhood, not only in its exterior, but its internal workings as well. To Abby, her home is "stuffed with cotton, stuffed with daughters who aren't daughters anymore, sisters who aren't sisters." Even worse is her understanding that her father is experiencing an even greater loss. This gentle high-school typing teacher whose idea of a good time is spending time burning trash in his backyard incinerator transforms himself into a sad, preoccupied and furrow-faced man. He is a "dad who isn't a dad, a husband who isn't a husband."
By all external evidence, Shirley has fallen apart. She goes swimming naked at midnight in a neighbor's pool; she disintegrates at the misplacement of a special dress. In a pique, she hurls Abby's galoshes into the fireplace and throws a Christmas-present crock pot against the wall. Against this backdrop, Abby seeks solace from her oh-so-cool friend Poppy, whose divorced mother's lifestyle seems alluring and rebellious to the bereft Abby. Abby engages in here own private acts of rebellion as well. She disobeys the numerous restrictive rules placed on her by her parents; she shoplifts, and she involves herself with a Mexican boyfriend. None of these acts restores Shirley, but all of them help Abby discover her inner self.
Unfortunately, "An Egg on Three Sticks" is not without its flaws. The novel must have set a new record for number of one-sentence paragraphs. And fragments too. Abby's voice veers dangerously toward terminal insipidness. Why, for instance, does Fischer insist on using invented terms like "dorkamundo?"
Which everyone knows is not how 70s teens would ever talk anyway.
Which is kinda beside the point, anyway.
These irritants, however, do not interfere with Abby's journey. Jackie Moyer has written a book of rare integrity and authentic compassion. "An Egg on Three Sticks" not only instructs us on the pain of mental illness, it educates us as to how a broken heart can mend itself.
What a beautifully executed novel. A very haunting, funny and lovely coming-of-age story, set in the early 1970's depicting what a challenge it is growing up in the shadow of a mentally-unbalanced Mother. Fischer also really nails the minutae and internal dialogue of what is is to be a 14 year-old, regardless of the era, truths that are universal to all American teenagers. Dark at times, but I fell in love with Abby and her world and did not want to put this book down. Recommended for everyone, not just Young Adult readers.
I absolutely loved this book! I am a fan of "coming of age novels" and this one sets the standard high for that genre! Wonderful characters, great premise...didn't want the story to end!