"We live by the best landfill ever. I flipped my dirt bike there once.
Plus I've got a sketchbook full of uranium monsters.
My friend Cornpup likes to show off the weird bumps on his back for a dollar.
And Charlie, he'll drink red creek water on a dare."
Plus I've got a sketchbook full of uranium monsters.
My friend Cornpup likes to show off the weird bumps on his back for a dollar.
And Charlie, he'll drink red creek water on a dare."
WINNER OF THE 30TH ANNUAL DELACORTE PRIZE FOR A FIRST YOUNG ADULT NOVEL!
MY CHEMICAL LAUNCH PARTY 2
July 13 @ 7pm Book Passage Corte Madera, CA GREEN PARTY NATIONAL MEETING July 25-28 Iowa City, IA SCBWI NORTH BAY MEETING August 28 @ 7pm Sebastopol Center for the Arts Sebastopol, CA WORDSTOCK LITERARY FESTIVAL October 5-6 Oregon Convention Center Portland, OR SCBWI SAN FRANCISCO NORTH AND EAST BAY REGIONAL CONFERENCE October 19 Preservation Park Oakland, CA PAST EVENTSMY CHEMICAL LAUNCH PARTY!
June 11 @ 7pm Books Inc. Opera Plaza San Francisco, CA |
 The vivid prose, raw energy, pulse-pounding action,
and unforgettable characters will remind readers of S. E. Hinton's The Outsiders. Rocked by his father's recent death and his mother's sudden compulsion to overeat, Jason lashes out by breaking into the abandoned mills and factories that plague his run-down town. Always by his side are his two best friends, Charlie, a fearless thrill junkie, and Cornpup, a geek inventor whose back is covered with cysts. The boys rage against the noxious pollution that suffocates their town and despise those responsible for it; at the same time, they embrace the danger of their industrial wasteland and boast about living on the edge. Then one night the boys vandalize one of the mills. Jason makes a costly mistake—and unwittingly becomes a catalyst for change. In a town like his, change should be a good thing. There's one problem: change is what Jason fears most of all. |
MY CHEMICAL MOUNTAIN is an
official YA selection at the Wordstock Literary Festival in Portland, OR! "Dark and unflinching." --Kirkus Reviews "There’s a little something for all readers in this well-thought-out, well-executed story.” --School Library Journal ‘"We cross a landfill on our way to school. We swim in creek water that smells like nail polish remover…We are not fools. We are brave and brilliant.’ There is power and hope in that kind of statement, and Jason’s coming-of-age tale, though dark, is full of both.” --The Hornbook Magazine “Grim but impressive debut . . . lyrical prose and strong characters make it worth the read." --Publisher's Weekly MY CHEMICAL MOUNTAIN was selected for the Northern California Independent Booksellers Spring Gathering in San Francisco! SCROLL DOWN FOR A COMPLETE LIST OF REVIEWS... |
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RELEASE DATE: JUNE 11, 2013
FULL REVIEWS
“This debut novel, with its detailed descriptions of the toxic landscape and
dangerous antics, will likely draw male readers in, but a budding romance and
subtle insight into Jason’s changing relationship with his friends guarantee
that there’s a little something for all readers in this well-thought-out,
well-executed story.”--School Library Journal
“This gritty debut depicts the reality of a toxic town. . . . Reminiscent of The Outsiders (and not just because of Cornpup’s unusual name), the story concentrates on the boys’ tight bond and how they both embrace and fight against the danger in their lives. The most stunning part of the story remains the visceral descriptions (“a trail of green puddles that never dry up; a rusty
railcar full of weird, smelly rocks; and a perfect square of earth where you can dig for hours without seeing a single insect”) that ooze throughout. . . . Dark and unflinching.”--Kirkus Reviews
“Vacco’s thought-provoking modern-day dystopian novel, set in a fictional upstate New York factory town, is plausible and action-packed. From Jason’s complex teenage boy perspective, she captures both the disheartening helplessness of the situation (a wealthy, corrupt company versus a dependent town) and the boys’ reckless resistance: ‘We cross a landfill on our way to school. We swim in creek water that smells like nail polish remover…We are not fools. We are brave and brilliant.’ There is power and hope in that kind of statement, and Jason’s coming-of-age tale, though dark, is full of both.”--The Hornbook Magazine
“Grim but impressive debut . . . lyrical prose and strong characters make it worth the read. . . . the push by the boys and
their tech genius friend Cornpup to get people to acknowledge the horrors Mareno has inflicted on Poxton (which mirror the real-life environmental pollution that inspired Vacco) should help readers think hard about the issue.”--Publisher’s Weekly
"A gritty, surprising story that confronts important personal and social issues head-on." -- Tim Tharp, author of National
Book Award finalist The Spectacular Now and Mojo
"Corina Vacco shows us real-life monsters, up close and very personal." -- Ellen Klages, author of The Green Glass Sea
"This is a powerful story with a strong theme of friendship and loyalty. This book won the Delacorte Prize and
it's no wonder. Corina Vacco has an amazing capacity to build a world that is too frighteningly like our own and to show
us the human side of our destruction of the environment." -- Joyce Sweeney, author of The Guardian
“This gritty debut depicts the reality of a toxic town. . . . Reminiscent of The Outsiders (and not just because of Cornpup’s unusual name), the story concentrates on the boys’ tight bond and how they both embrace and fight against the danger in their lives. The most stunning part of the story remains the visceral descriptions (“a trail of green puddles that never dry up; a rusty
railcar full of weird, smelly rocks; and a perfect square of earth where you can dig for hours without seeing a single insect”) that ooze throughout. . . . Dark and unflinching.”--Kirkus Reviews
“Vacco’s thought-provoking modern-day dystopian novel, set in a fictional upstate New York factory town, is plausible and action-packed. From Jason’s complex teenage boy perspective, she captures both the disheartening helplessness of the situation (a wealthy, corrupt company versus a dependent town) and the boys’ reckless resistance: ‘We cross a landfill on our way to school. We swim in creek water that smells like nail polish remover…We are not fools. We are brave and brilliant.’ There is power and hope in that kind of statement, and Jason’s coming-of-age tale, though dark, is full of both.”--The Hornbook Magazine
“Grim but impressive debut . . . lyrical prose and strong characters make it worth the read. . . . the push by the boys and
their tech genius friend Cornpup to get people to acknowledge the horrors Mareno has inflicted on Poxton (which mirror the real-life environmental pollution that inspired Vacco) should help readers think hard about the issue.”--Publisher’s Weekly
"A gritty, surprising story that confronts important personal and social issues head-on." -- Tim Tharp, author of National
Book Award finalist The Spectacular Now and Mojo
"Corina Vacco shows us real-life monsters, up close and very personal." -- Ellen Klages, author of The Green Glass Sea
"This is a powerful story with a strong theme of friendship and loyalty. This book won the Delacorte Prize and
it's no wonder. Corina Vacco has an amazing capacity to build a world that is too frighteningly like our own and to show
us the human side of our destruction of the environment." -- Joyce Sweeney, author of The Guardian