Disconnected
Published on 1. August 2009
Book
Paperback/Softback
224 pages
978-0-00-733378-3 (ISBN)
Description
Catherine isn't sure who she is. The hardworking student? The dutiful daughter? Or someone else entirely? Catherine, Cat, Cath - which is the real person? A gripping study of teenage pressure and identity.
Catherine is a typical A-grade student from a middle class, high-achieving family, who suddenly, on entering the sixth form, loses her way. She stumbles from one situation to another, unable to work and turning to alcohol to take her mind off her problems. As she searches for answers through the varied and offbeat characters she meets, she learns a great many truths about life. Can she cope with the biggest truth of all - her own personality?
Written in the first person, each chapter is addressed to someone different in Catherine's life - her mother, a teacher, a schoolfriend etc, and reflects how Catherine is different to different people. It brilliantly reflects the pressures on young people today in a world where they haven't got the time to grow up at their own pace. Is the face we present to the world our true self, or a carefully maintained construct?
Catherine is a typical A-grade student from a middle class, high-achieving family, who suddenly, on entering the sixth form, loses her way. She stumbles from one situation to another, unable to work and turning to alcohol to take her mind off her problems. As she searches for answers through the varied and offbeat characters she meets, she learns a great many truths about life. Can she cope with the biggest truth of all - her own personality?
Written in the first person, each chapter is addressed to someone different in Catherine's life - her mother, a teacher, a schoolfriend etc, and reflects how Catherine is different to different people. It brilliantly reflects the pressures on young people today in a world where they haven't got the time to grow up at their own pace. Is the face we present to the world our true self, or a carefully maintained construct?
Reviews / Votes
"Gripping from cover to cover, Disconnected is one of those books you really can't put down. I haven't been so impressed with a novel for quite some time now and Sherry Ashworth has, on the merits of this one novel alone, become one of my favourite authors... It's not often that a book makes me think I must go out and find some more of this author's work now, but that's the effect Disconnected had on me. I was well and truly blown away."Fiona McKinlay, teenage reviewer for whsonline.co.uk
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
HarperCollins Publishers
Target group
Primary & secondary/elementary & high school
Young adult
Interest Age: From 13 years
Product notice
Unsewn / adhesive bound
Paperback (UK-B)
Dimensions
Height: 200 mm
Width: 129 mm
Thickness: 19 mm
Weight
230 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-00-733378-3 (9780007333783)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Person
Sherry Ashworth is an exciting new voice in teenage writing. She has written eight adult novels and two teenage novels; her most recent, published by The Women's Press this year, IS HE WORTH IT?, has received hot reviews.