Author | Michael Hornburg |
---|---|
Language | English |
Genre | Bildungsroman, horror novel |
Published | July 21, 1999 (William Morrow) April 9, 2001 (reprint; Grove Press) |
Publication place | United States |
Media type | |
Pages | 240 |
ISBN | 978-0-688-16528-4 |
LC Class | PS3558.O6873 D69 1999 |
Downers Grove is a 1999 American coming-of-age horror novel by Michael Hornburg. Its plot centers on the last two weeks of teenage girl's life as a high school student growing up in Downers Grove, Illinois. [1] The novel was originally published by William Morrow and Company in 1999, and reprinted in 2001 by Grove Press.[ citation needed ]
Crystal Methedrine Swanson, known as Chrissie, is a teenager in Downers Grove, Illinois, about to graduate from high school. Her father has disappeared, while her brother has become a heroin addict, and her mother has begun dating a bizarre man. As her graduation nears, Chrissie and her close friend, Tracey, worry about a curse surrounding the high school that has led to multiple students dying each year. After nearly being raped at a party by one of the school's football players and harassed after, she worries she may become the next victim.
Publishers Weekly gave the book a positive review, calling the novel "disquieting in its timeliness." [1] Robin Henley of the Chicago Tribune wrote: "If the story and setting sound like territory that has been well-trod, that's because it has been, but what makes this novel a welcome addition to the canon of coming-of-age literature is the voice Hornburg has created for Chrissie. Hornburg knows the rhythms of teenage world-weariness, a self-possessed patter that often belies the terror of straddling the worlds of adulthood and childhood." [2]
The novel was adapted by Bret Easton Ellis into a film in 2015. [3]
DuPage County is a county in the U.S. state of Illinois, and one of the collar counties of the Chicago metropolitan area. As of the 2020 census, the population was 932,877, making it Illinois' second-most populous county. Its county seat is Wheaton.
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Buffalo Grove High School (BGHS) is a public high school located in Buffalo Grove, Illinois, a northwestern suburb of Chicago. It is one of six four-year comprehensive high schools in Township High School District 214, serving portions of the villages of Buffalo Grove, Arlington Heights, and Wheeling. Feeder schools are Cooper Middle School, Thomas Middle School, and London Middle School.
Downers Grove South High School, or DGS, and locally referred to as "South", is a public four-year high school located at the corner of Dunham Road and 63rd Street in Downers Grove, Illinois, a western suburb of Chicago, Illinois, in the United States. Its principal is Arwen Lyp. It is part of Community High School District 99, which also includes Downers Grove North High School. The South campus draws students from Downers Grove, the majority of Woodridge, half of Darien, and small sections of Bolingbrook and Westmont.
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The Avery Coonley School (ACS), commonly called Avery Coonley, is an independent, coeducational day school serving academically gifted students in preschool through eighth grade (approximately ages 3 to 14), and is located in Downers Grove, DuPage County, Illinois. The school was founded in 1906 to promote the progressive educational theories developed by John Dewey and other turn-of-the-20th-century philosophers, and was a nationally recognized model for progressive education well into the 1940s. From 1943 to 1965, Avery Coonley was part of the National College of Education (now National Louis University), serving as a living laboratory for teacher training and educational research. In the 1960s, ACS became a regional research center and a leadership hub for independent schools, and began to focus on the education of the gifted.
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The Curse of Downers Grove is an American thriller film written by Bret Easton Ellis. Based on the 1999 novel Downers Grove by Michael Hornburg, the film stars Kevin Zegers, Bella Heathcote, Penelope Mitchell, Lucas Till, Zane Holtz, Helen Slater, and Tom Arnold. The film received a limited theatrical release on August 21, 2015, and a subsequent DVD/Blu-Ray release on September 1, 2015.
Chicago College of Osteopathic Medicine (CCOM) is the medical school of Midwestern University in Downers Grove, Illinois. CCOM grants the Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine D.O. academic degree and is accredited by the American Osteopathic Association's Commission on Osteopathic College Accreditation (COCA).
Lottie (Holman) O'Neill was an American politician from Illinois who was the first woman elected to the Illinois General Assembly. First elected in 1922, O'Neill served 40 years in the Assembly, the longest-serving female elected official in the United States at the time.
Emily Temple-Wood is an American physician and Wikipedia editor, who goes by pseudonym Keilana on the site. She is known for her efforts to counter the effects and causes of gender bias on Wikipedia, particularly through the creation of articles about women in science. She was declared a joint recipient of the 2016 Wikipedian of the Year award by Jimmy Wales at Wikimania. Temple-Wood graduated from Loyola University Chicago and Midwestern University. She practices medicine in Minnesota.
Michael Hornburg is an American writer and literary agent. He has published two novels: Bongwater (1995) and Downers Grove (1999), both of which have been adapted into feature films. He has also written for the Portland, Oregon publication The Portland Mercury.
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