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Mosquitoland
Cover of Mosquitoland
Mosquitoland
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I am a collection of oddities, a circus of neurons and electrons: my heart is the ringmaster, my soul is the trapeze artist, and the world is my audience. It sounds strange because it is, and it is, because I am strange.
 
After the sudden collapse of her family, Mim Malone is dragged from her home in northern Ohio to the “wastelands” of Mississippi, where she lives in a medicated milieu with her dad and new stepmom. Before the dust has a chance to settle, she learns her mother is sick back in Cleveland.
 
So she ditches her new life and hops aboard a northbound Greyhound bus to her real home and her real mother, meeting a quirky cast of fellow travelers along the way. But when her thousand-mile journey takes a few turns she could never see coming, Mim must confront her own demons, redefining her notions of love, loyalty, and what it means to be sane.
 
Told in an unforgettable, kaleidoscopic voice, Mosquitoland is a modern American odyssey, as hilarious as it is heartbreaking.
I am a collection of oddities, a circus of neurons and electrons: my heart is the ringmaster, my soul is the trapeze artist, and the world is my audience. It sounds strange because it is, and it is, because I am strange.
 
After the sudden collapse of her family, Mim Malone is dragged from her home in northern Ohio to the “wastelands” of Mississippi, where she lives in a medicated milieu with her dad and new stepmom. Before the dust has a chance to settle, she learns her mother is sick back in Cleveland.
 
So she ditches her new life and hops aboard a northbound Greyhound bus to her real home and her real mother, meeting a quirky cast of fellow travelers along the way. But when her thousand-mile journey takes a few turns she could never see coming, Mim must confront her own demons, redefining her notions of love, loyalty, and what it means to be sane.
 
Told in an unforgettable, kaleidoscopic voice, Mosquitoland is a modern American odyssey, as hilarious as it is heartbreaking.
Available formats-
  • OverDrive Listen
  • OverDrive MP3 Audiobook
Languages:-
Copies-
  • Available:
    1
  • Library copies:
    1
Levels-
  • ATOS:
  • Lexile:
    750
  • Interest Level:
  • Text Difficulty:
    3 - 4


Excerpts-
  • From the cover JACKSON, MISSISSIPPI
    (947 miles to go)


    1. A Thing's Not a Thing Until You Say It Out Loud

    I am Mary Iris Malone, and I am not okay.


    2. The Uncomfortable Nearness of Strangers

    September 1—afternoon

    Dear Isabel,

    As a member of the family, you have a right to know what’s going on. Dad agrees but says I should avoid “topics of substance and despair.” When I asked how he propose I do this, seeing as our family is prone to substantial desperation, he rolled his eyes and flared his nostrils, like he does. The thing is, I'm incapable of fluff, so here goes. The straight dope, Mim-style. Filled to the brim with “topics of substance and despair.”

    Just over a month ago, I moved from the greener pastures of Ashland, Ohio, to the dried-up wastelands of Jackson, Mississippi, with Dad and Kathy. During that time, it's possible I’ve gotten into some trouble at my new school. Not trouble with a capital T, you understand, but this is a subtle distinction for adults once they’re determined to ruin a kid's youth. My new principal is just such a man. He scheduled a conference for ten a.m. this morning, in which the malfeasance of Mim Malone would be the only point of order. Kathy switched her day shift at Denny's so she could join Dad as a parental representative. I was in algebra II, watching Mr. Harrow carry on a romantic relationship with his polynomials, when my name echoed down the coral-painted hallways.

    “Mim Malone, please report to Principal Schwartz's office. Mim Malone to the principal's office.”

    (Suffice it to say, I didn't want to go, but the Loudspeaker summoned, and the Student responded, and 'twas always thus.)

    The foyer leading into the principal’s office was dank, a suffocating decor of rusty maroons and browns. Inspirational posters were plastered around the room, boasting one-word encouragements and eagles soaring over purple mountains' majesty.

    I threw up a little, swallowed it back down.

    “You can go on back,” said a secretary without looking up. “They’re expecting you.”

    Beyond the secretary's desk, Principal Schwartz's heavy oak door was cracked open an inch. Nearing it, I heard low voices on the other side.

    “What’s her mother's name again?” asked Schwartz, his timbre muffled by that lustrous seventies mustache, a holdover from the glory days no doubt.

    “Eve,” said Dad.

    Schwartz: “Right, right. What a shame. Well, I hope Mim is grateful for your involvement, Kathy. Heaven knows she needs a mother figure right now.”

    Kathy: “We all just want Eve to get better, you know? And she will. She’ll beat this disease. Eve’s a fighter.”

    Just outside the door, I stood frozen—inside and out.

    Disease?

    Schwartz: (Sigh.) “Does Mim know?”

    Dad: (Different kind of sigh.) “No. The time just doesn't seem right. New school, new friends, lots of . . . new developments, as you can see.”

    Schwartz: (Chuckle.) “Quite. Well, hopefully things will come together for Eve in . . . where did you say she was?”

    Dad: “Cleveland. And thank you. We’re hoping for the best.”

    (Every great character, Iz, be it on page or screen, is multidimensional. The good guys aren’t all good, the bad guys aren’t all bad, and any character wholly one or the other shouldn’t exist at all. Remember this when I describe the antics that follow, for though I am...
About the Author-
  • David Arnold lives in Lexington, KY, with his (lovely) wife and (boisterous) son. Previous jobs include freelance musician/producer, stay-at-home dad, and preschool teacher. He is a fierce believer in the power of kindness and community. And chips. He believes fiercely in chips. Mosquitoland is his first novel.
Reviews-
  • AudioFile Magazine Narrator Phoebe Strole brings listeners into the mind of Mim Malone, who is on a solo cross-country expedition to find her mother. Through first-person narration and letters, Strole highlights Mim's quest to understand her conflicting emotions, her parents' divorce, the complexities of mental illness, and her struggle to trust others. Strole's earnest voice has the sound of youth with a glimpse of wisdom beyond Mim's years. Her characterization of Mim is at once bright and somber, and her wide range of delivery also brings humor and heart to the outlandish array of people Mim encounters. The story is not without its dark moments, and Strole handles heartbreaking issues by imbuing her character portrayals and storytelling with respect and precisely rendered details. K.S.B. © AudioFile 2015, Portland, Maine
  • Publisher's Weekly

    Starred review from January 26, 2015
    Newcomer Arnold’s protagonist, 16-year-old Mim Malone, is as hold-nothing-back honest as they come, which makes the narrative she provides about her outlandish trek from Mississippi to Cleveland wholly enjoyable. Mim, blind in one eye from a solar eclipse and suffering from a “misplaced epiglottis” that results in unpredictable spells of vomiting, is reeling from her parents’ divorce and an unclear psychiatric diagnosis when she is dragged to Mississippi by her father and new stepmother. Determined to get back to her mother, Mim hops a bus to Cleveland, beginning an Odysseus-like adventure that introduces a delightfully eclectic cast of characters, who are made all the more memorable by Mim’s descriptions (“I’ve only known two other Carls in my lifetime—an insurgent moonshiner and a record store owner—both of whom taught me important... life lessons. In my book, Carls are a top-notch species”). There is no shortage of humor in Mim’s musings, interspersed with tender scenes and a few heart-pounding surprises. Mim’s triumphant evolution is well worth the journey. Ages 12–up. Agent: Daniel Lazar, Writers House.

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