Dear Rachel Maddow is written by Adrienne Kisner and it comes out June 5, 2018! I am so happy to reveal the cover to this novel! Thank you to Rockstar Book Tours for letting participate in this cover reveal blitz! Adrienne is super nice and I was fortunate to get to know a her during Boston Teen Author Festival in 2016 and 2017! I can't wait to read this novel next year!
Title: Dear Rachel Maddow
Author: Adrienne Kisner
Pub. Date: June 5, 2018
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Formats: Hardcover, eBook
Pages: 400
Find it: Amazon,
Barnes & Noble,
The Book Depository ,
Goodreads
Synopsis:
Sixteen-year-old Brynn Harper’s life has one steadying force—Rachel Maddow. She watches her daily, and after writing to Rachel for a school project—and actually getting a response—Brynn starts drafting emails to Rachel but never sending them. It’s an outlet; Brynn tells Rachel about breaking up with Sarah, her first serious girlfriend, about her beloved brother Nick’s death, her passive mother and even worse stepfather, about how she’s stuck in remedial courses at school and is considering dropping out.
But then Brynn is confronted with a moral dilemma. She learns that one student representative will be allowed to have a voice among teachers and administrators in the selection of a new school superintendent. Sarah, along with Brynn’s arch-nemesis John, believe only honors students worthy of the selection committee seat. Brynn knows they are more interested in power and perks. Brynn feels all students deserve a voice. When she runs for the position the knives are out and her brother’s memory and her new crush Michaela are shamed. Brynn asks herself: What would Rachel Maddow do?
DEAR RACHEL MADDOW EXCLUSIVE EXCERPT
Folder: Sent
To: egrimm@westing.pa.edu
Date: September 10
Subject: School
Assignment
Dear Rachel Maddow,
I am writing to
you because of a school assignment. It’s
a totally lame reason to be writing, but I don’t think you’ll actually read it
anyway. This kind of thing is so sixth
grade. I am a junior in high school and
I’ve been forced to write to a “celebrity hero” by the Applied Language Arts
teacher. (Hey Mr. Grimm! How’s it hanging, buddy?) I wasn’t going to do it, because my ex-girlfriend
worships you and, hello, school assignment.
But I turned on your show and Mom totally freaked out to see me watching
you. Apparently your liberal and leftist views don’t sit well with her. Mom spat out the words like she was talking
about my dad, so I knew she meant it.
That made you my celebrity hero.
You were talking
about some guys running for congress.
But then you said one of them was “freaking amazing.” I don’t think news people are supposed to say
things like that. And isn’t that biased? News people aren’t supposed to be
biased. I know this because Mr. Grimm
made us watch this video about newswriting.
Though no one else knows this about me, Rachel Maddow, I have a near
photographic memory for stuff people say.
Their words just stick in my brain.
So I remember what a reporter is supposed
to do.
Anyway, thanks for
pissing off my Mom.
Sincerely,
Brynn Harper
Folder: Sent
From: Egrimm@westing.pa.edu
Date: September 11
Subject: RE: School
Assignment
Dear Rachel Maddow,
I am writing to
you because of a school assignment. It’s
a totally lame reason to be writing, but I don’t think you actually read them
anyway. This kind of thing is so
sixth grade. [Brynn, this is good, honest writing.
Can you try to put a positive spin on it?] I am a junior in high school and I’ve
been forced [asked] to write to a
“celebrity hero” by the Applied Language Arts teacher. (Hey Mr. Grimm! How’s it hanging, buddy?) [I’m doing well, thanks.
But you can take this out.] I wasn’t going to do it, because
my ex-girlfriend worships you and, hello, school assignment. And Mom
totally freaked out to see me watching you.
Apparently your liberal and leftist views still don’t sit well with
her. Mom spat out the words like she was
talking about my Dad, so I knew she meant it.
So that made you my celebrity hero.
[Again, great personal touch. But maybe too intimate for this
correspondence?]
You were talking
about the people running for congress.
But then you said one of them was “freaking amazing.” And I don’t think news people are supposed to
say things like that. And isn’t that
biased? News people aren’t supposed to
be biased. I know this because Mr. Grimm, my English teacher, made us watch this video
about newswriting. Though no one else
knows this about me, Rachel Maddow, I have a photographic memory for stuff
people say. Their words just stick in my
brain. So I remember what a reporter is supposed to be. [You
are right, Brynn! I didn’t know that
about you. Shouldn’t you remember your
assignments, then?]
Anyway, thanks
for pissing off my Mom. [There is a list of
questions I asked you to include. Maybe
you could end with that instead.]
Sincerely,
Brynn Harper
Folder: Sent
Date: September 12
Subject: School Assignment
Again
Dear Rachel Maddow,
I
learned an important lesson about rough drafts.
If you really want to send someone a letter, you should just send
it. Do not turn it in to your English teacher first. But Mr. Grimm (said English teacher) is the
only person I know who doesn’t think I’m hopeless, so I am trying this again
for his sake. Though I’m sending it to
you too, to avoid further editing.
My
name is Brynn Harper and I am sixteen years old. I live with my mother and stepfather in
Westing, Pennsylvania. I have a brother,
too. Or, I had one, anyway.
I
first watched your show a couple of times in high school because my best friend
(well, okay, my girlfriend) loved you, so she kind of dragged me along with
her. She’s not my girlfriend
anymore. And she said she didn’t have
time to watch television anymore either, even for you. So she dumped us both. That gives us something in common.
I
had a list of questions that I was supposed to ask you, but I got most of the
answers online already. Mr. Grimm
suggested I think of new ones. So here
you go:
1. When
you look at the papers on your desk and circle something, are you really
reading from them? Don’t you read from a
teleprompter? When you go to commercial,
you shuffle those papers, too.
Seriously, is there anything even written on them?
2. How
much does a person have to know to be considered a “wonk?”
3. At
least one person laughs in the background while you are talking. Is this on purpose? Who is that?
4. Why
don’t you run for political office?
5. Is
there ever a staff meeting when you think to yourself, “Huh, there really isn’t a lot going on in the news today.”
6. How
many pairs of shoes do you actually own?
About Adrienne Kisner
I have lived my entire “adult” life in a college dormitory working in both Residence Life and college chaplaincy. I like the term "dormitory" better than "residence hall." I went to school for a long time so that now I get to swoop around in a fancy robe and silly hat (like at Hogwarts). I have an MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults from Vermont College of Fine Arts (a place like Hogwarts). I play both the viola and tennis with more heart than skill. I love my current home in Boston but will always be a Pennsylvanian at heart.
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