Being Fishkill

Gr 6–10—Thirteen-year-old Fishkill Carmel has reinvented herself. She will no longer allow herself to be picked on, made fun of, or go hungry. She takes food from her classmates, but she gets more than she bargained for when she tries to take Duck-Duck Farina's lunch. Duck-Duck is fearless and adds Fishkill to her "gang" the GR. Soon Fishkill and Duck-Duck are inseparable and Fishkill's secrets start to come out. The protagonist has been on her own for months, thinking she killed her mother. Fishkill has kept this secret hidden, but finally tells Duck-Duck and eventually her mother, Molly. Molly immediately takes in Fishkill and begins to treat her like she's her own daughter. Just as Fishkill starts to feel comfortable in her life, junior high cliques and the sudden reappearance of Keely ruin everything. This is a difficult and devastating book to get through. Lehrer's debut is well written and touches upon tough subjects such as bullying, abuse, and teen pregnancy in a lyrical but age-appropriate way. Fishkill lives a hard life, but the book speaks to how schools and institutions handle students in poverty.