 | |
| Author | Adam Rapp |
|---|---|
| Cover artist | Timothy Basil Ering |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Publisher | Candlewick Press |
Publication date | March 1, 2003 |
| Media type | Hardback and paperback |
| Pages | 192 pp (first edition, hardback) 179 pp (Paperback) |
| ISBN | 978-0-7636-1874-2 (first edition, hardback) ISBN 978-0-7636-2917-5 (Paperback) |
| OCLC | 50477270 |
| LC Class | PZ7.R1765 Aae 2003 |
33 Snowfish is a 2003 novel by Adam Rapp. [1] The American Library Association made the book one of their 2004 book picks. [2]
33 Snowfish follows the character of Custis, a 10-year-old orphan living with his "owner" Bob Motley, who sexually abuses him, in a dilapidated house in Rockdale, Illinois. After overhearing that he was to star in a snuff movie, Custis steals a small pistol and escapes through a hole in the wall. While hiding from Motley's crew and begging for quarters in a video arcade at the Joliet Mall, Custis spots Boobie (whose real name is Darrin Flowers), a strange boy with black eyes and a single painted fingernail. Custis decides to follow Boobie into Crazy Lou's Woods, a private woodland supposedly owned by an ex-military cat farmer. Custis and Boobie soon become friends.
Custis, having no home, and Boobie, who has an unstable relationship with his parents, set up a makeshift home in the woods with a tent and steal electricity from a nearby paper factory. Soon they are joined by Curl, Boobie's 14-year-old girlfriend who is addicted to drugs and supports herself as a prostitute, and finally, Boobie's baby brother, whom Boobie abducts after murdering his parents. The four of them take to the road in a stolen Buick Skylark to flee the police who are searching for Boobie, engaging in dumpster diving, robbery, and begging in various Chicago suburbs along the way.
Critical reception for 33 Snowfish has been positive, [3] [4] [5] with the book garnering praise from the School Library Journal and Kirkus Reviews. [6] [7] Publishers Weekly commented on the book's language and content, stating "Readers may have trouble stomaching the language..., as well as the horrors so flatly depicted and, in the end, so handily overcome." [8] A reviewer for Kliatt also mentioned the book's mature themes, saying the book was "Not for every taste, but the grittiness and realistic dialogue here may help this bleak though ultimately uplifting novel find a readership." [9]
The English Journal commented on the book's mature themes, citing it as one of several books that would help challenge teen readers. [10]
33 Snowfish has been criticized by conservative activists, along with other young adult fiction titles, for potentially exposing children to excessively violent and sexual themes. [11] [12] In 2021, the school board of Spotsylvania County, Virginia voted to remove it from school libraries along with other "objectionable" content, with two school board members expressing support for burning the books in question. [13] The decision was later reversed. [14]
In an article with Horn Book Magazine, Candlewick Press's editorial director commented that Rapp's original version of 33 Snowfish contained stronger language which had to be edited down before it could be sold. [15]
J. G. Sandom is an American businessman and author, who co-founded the nation's first digital advertising agency, Einstein and Sandom Interactive (EASI), in 1984.
Michael C. Lawrence is an English writer for children and young adults. His work most widely held in WorldCat libraries is the 2003 novel A Crack in the Line, first in a trilogy called The Aldous Lexicon, or Withern Rise in the United States. Much of the Jiggy McCue series of sixteen books is widely held in participating libraries. His only known website active in 2022 is that of the graphics artist McLaw.
Looking for Alaska is American author John Green‘s debut novel, published in March 2005 by Dutton Juvenile. Based on his time at Indian Springs School, Green wrote the novel as a result of his desire to create meaningful young adult fiction. The characters and events of the plot are grounded in Green's life, while the story itself is fictional.
Adam Rapp is an American novelist, playwright, screenwriter, musician and film director. His play Red Light Winter was a Pulitzer Prize finalist in 2006.
Love Among the Walnuts: or How I Saved My Family from Being Poisoned is a farcical, satirical young adult novel with fairy tale elements written by Jean Ferris. The story revolves around a young man, Sandy, whose family is poisoned by his scheming uncles in a bid to gain the family fortune. He moves them to Walnut Manor, a neighboring convalescent home, where, with the help of the nurse Sunnie, he tries to save his family and benefit the manor's misunderstood residents.
Postcards from No Man's Land is a young-adult novel by Aidan Chambers, published by Bodley Head in 1999. Two stories are set in Amsterdam during 1994 and 1944. One features 17-year-old visitor Jacob Todd during the 50-year commemoration of the Battle of Arnhem, in which his grandfather fought; the other features 19-year-old Geertrui late in the German occupation of the Netherlands. It was the fifth of six novels in the series Chambers calls "The Dance Sequence", which he inaugurated in 1978 with Breaktime.
A Mango-Shaped Space is a 2003 young adult novel by the American author Wendy Mass. A Mango-Shaped Space is Mass's fourth fiction novel. The book received the American Library Association Schneider Family Book Award in 2004. The novel has since been nominated for, and received, a number of other awards. The hand lettering on the cover is by Billy Kelly. The book is recommended for grades 5-8. A 7-hour long audiobook version, narrated by Danielle Ferland, has been produced.
Defining Dulcie is a young adult novel. It is the first novel by author Paul Acampora.
Code Orange is a 2005 young adult novel by Caroline B. Cooney. The novel won a National Science Teachers Association recommendation and has been frequently used in classrooms. The Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy also marked the book as one of their Young Adults' Choices for 2007.
TIM, Defender of the Earth is a 2008 young adult science fiction novel by Sam Enthoven, written in the spirit of classic monster movies such as Godzilla and Gamera. It was shortlisted for the Waterstone's Children's Book Prize.
Blackthorn Winter is a young adult mystery novel by Kathryn Reiss. The book was first published on January 1, 2006 through Harcourt Children's Books.
Colin Frizzell is Canadian author of young adult novels from Prince Edward County, Ontario, Canada. He is a member of the Writers Union of Canada and the Irish Writers' Union.
Gothic! Ten Original Dark Tales is a compilation of young adult horror short stories, edited by Deborah Noyes. It was published in 2004 by Candlewick Press.
The Devil and His Boy is a 1998 young adult novel by Anthony Horowitz. The book is set in Tudor times and follows the adventures of a young boy as he meets several influential people from that time period.
Alosha is a series of young adult fantasy novels by Christopher Pike. The first book in the series, Alosha, was released in 2004 through Tor Teen and follows a young girl that discovers that she must stop a threat that could destroy the Earth.
The Bonemender series is a trilogy of young-adult fantasy novels by Holly Bennett between 2005 and 2007 through Orca Book Publishers. The first novel, The Bonemender, was published on September 1, 2005, with the subsequent novels, Bonemender's Oath and Bonemender's Choice publishing on November 1, 2006 and September 1, 2007.
Such A Pretty Girl is a 2007 young adult novel by American author Laura Wiess. The book was first published on January 2, 2007 through MTV Books and deals with the subject matter of a teenage girl that must deal with the reality that the father that molested and sexually abused her and several others is getting an early release from jail.
Scot Gardner is an Australian writer known for his young adult novels. He has worked as a counselor and youth worker before becoming a full-time novelist.
Out of Darkness is a historical young adult novel by Ashley Hope Pérez, published September 1, 2015 by Carolrhoda Lab. The novel chronicles a love affair between a teenage Mexican-American girl and a teenage African-American boy in 1930s New London, Texas, occurring right up to the 1937 New London School explosion.
Harrowing the Dragon is a collection of fantasy short stories by Patricia A. McKillip. It was first published in hardcover and ebook by Ace Books in November 2005, and in trade paperback by the same publisher in November 2006. The first British edition was issued in ebook by Gateway/Orion on December 17, 2015.