Skateaway

by Michael Grant Jaffe

Jaffe chronicles three stages--preteen, late teen, and early adult--in the lives of Clem, Garrett, and Samantha Boone, who try to lead a conventional childhood in the Ohio River valley, in spite of... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0374265712
• ISBN13: 9780374265717
• Release Date: January 1999
• Publisher: Farrar Straus Giroux
• Length: 260 Pages
• Weight: 0.95 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 5.9" x 8.6"

Customer Reviews

serious, troubling account of childhood in unsettling family

Michael Grant Jaffe's honorable and thought-provoking "Skateaway" treats the theme of growing up in unusual family circumstances with sensitivty, compassion and anger. The three Boone children, Clem, Garrett and Samantha, yearn for a normal, invisible childhood. Instead, they are compelled to confront the invasive abuse of anti-abortion protestors who regularly disrupt their home life out of anger at the childrens' mother, Mercer, who provides abotion services to the blue-collar town of Lukin, Ohio, in addition to serving as a conscientious OB/GYN. If that weren't enough, the children's unstable father, Kendall, slowly and inexorably slips into insanity. Thus, the three children never experience the delight of family tranquility or the stablity of relative anonymity.Jaffe's significant talents find best expression when exploring the psychological consequences of growing up in an environment which permits neither ease or coherence. Despite learning, at an early age, the notion of social responsibility, the children "had rubbed against things too sharp for the hands of the young. They'd been spittoons for words of terrific cruelty, they'd felt the sting of noses turned bloody. Awfulness that usually began in defense of things they didn't completely understand: their mother's work or their father's mind."In addition, the author skillfully interweaves Mercer's anxieties about the ramifications of her life's work on her children's safety. "...This is what worried Mercer most: someday, intelligently, one or more of her children might come to the decision that their mother had placed them all in trouble's way for a belief they did not share." Kendall's increased instablity further isolates the Boones from a neighborhood steeped in hypocrisy and isolated anger. Jaffe's subtle depiction of the Boones' neighbors is superb. Lukin seethes with intolerance, disdain and fear at the Boones, a family that simply does not fit in with the truncated hopes of a working-class community. After Kendall's institutionalization, the neighborhood heaves a sigh of relief, however guiltily, that at least one detriment to community stability has been removed.As the children age, their realizations mature. Garrett "accepted the parallels in his parents' lives: one needing protection from others, one needing only protection from himself." Not until young adulthood does Clem have a serious conversation with her mother about Mercer's decision to provide abortions, and the mother's measured response is one of the most eloquent defenses of the right to choice imaginable. "'I'd imagine no one wishes there weren't a need for abortions more than the doctors who perform them...But I can't just hide my eyes and hope it'll disappear. The only satisfaction - if that's even the word - I can take from doing abortions is knowing I gave the patients the best medical care I was capable of. A proficient set of hands.'""Skateaway" is not without its flaws. Written in three d

REALLY ENJOYABLE EASY TO RELATE TO THIS FAMILY

I AM NOT A MAJOR BOOK READER, BUT DO ENJOY BOOKS LIKE THIS. FOUND IT TO FLOW WELL. LOOKING FORWARD TO MORE FROM THE AUTHOR

Michael Grant Jaffe's second and best novel...

The novel takes three sibblings: Sam, Garret and Clem - victims of tragedy, violence, and injustice, and depicts their lives through three stages. Beautifully written - their lives seem more interesting and full of thought-provoking dilemmas than the lives of many real peopleMichael Grant Jaffe proliferates colorful incidents and crotchets of character. . . . with an astounding amount of artistry and ingenuity