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    Upstate: A Novel
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    Upstate: A Novel
    Unavailable
    Upstate: A Novel
    Ebook219 pages3 hours

    Upstate: A Novel

    By Kalisha Buckhanon

    4/5

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    About this ebook

    "Baby, the first thing I need to know from you is do you believe I killed my father?"

    So begins Upstate, a powerful story told through letters between seventeen-year-old Antonio and his sixteen-year-old girlfriend, Natasha, set in the 1990's in New York. Antonio and Natasha's world is turned upside down, and their young love is put to the test, when Antonio finds himself in jail, accused of a shocking crime. Antonio fights to stay alive on the inside, while on the outside, Natasha faces choices that will change her life. Over the course of a decade, they share a desperate correspondence. Often, they have only each other to turn to as life takes them down separate paths and leaves them wondering if they will ever find their way back together.

    Startling, real, and filled with raw emotion, Upstate is an unforgettable coming-of-age story with a message of undeniable hope. Brilliant and profoundly felt, it is destined to speak to a new generation of readers.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherMacmillan Publishers
    Release dateApr 1, 2007
    ISBN9781429902441
    Author

    Kalisha Buckhanon

    Kalisha Buckhanon’s first novel, Upstate, won an American Library Association Alex Award and was nominated for the Hurston/Wright Foundation Legacy Award in Debut Fiction. Terry McMillan selected her to receive the first Terry McMillan Young Author Award in 2006. A recipient of a 2001 Illinois Arts Council Artist Fellowship and an Andrew Mellon Fellow, Buckhanon frequently teaches writing and speaks throughout the country. She has a M.F.A. in creative writing from New School University in New York City, and both a B.A. and a M.A. in English language and literature from the University of Chicago. She was born in 1977 in Kankakee, Illinois.

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    Reviews for Upstate

    4/5

    88 ratings10 reviews

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    • 4/5
      Two Harlem teens (Antonio & Natasha) confess their love for one another, but have to correspond through letters due to Antonio's arrest. I enjoyed meeting these two teens and thought their story was told very realistically. The dialog between them was filled with a lot of raw emotion, but bad language as well. Despite the language, I was interested in both characters - they were so well-developed and distinct. Being that they were from Harlem, there were many urban aspects to the novel. I found it to be very compelling. (3.75/5)Originally posted on: "Thoughts of Joy..."
    • 5/5
      A series of love letters between a young high school couple that unfolds abusive childhoods, urban life, unconditional love and growing up and away. A modern love story that will capture the attention of young adults with its gritty dialogs and circumstances of the main characters that most readers will be able to show empathy for. Definitely, a high school read and could be used for discussion in health, ethics and literature classes.
    • 4/5
      This was interesting enough. Not something that was really great I would say, but interesting. I like books about prison, or people in prison. I also like books written in letter style. I think this book would have done more if it were not fiction. Though, I think it was powerful. I was glad in the end it wasn't exactly a happy ending. It made it more believe able. It think it showed the true power of how prison can effect relationships and families. (Not that that needed proving I guess....) I thought the characters felt very real and that the story was well written. It kept my attention, but I can't say it's at the top of any of my lists.
    • 3/5
      The story starts with a bang and keeps going all the way through at an emotionally intimate and thrilling pace. We follow the plight of a young black man from being accused, through trial, and his imprisonment. The author truly brings the situation to life for you, you'll feel like you were there and you know him, and all the ways he is viewed: by his girlfriend -> fiance, mother, neighborhood, friends, brothers and society.
    • 4/5
      I bought an audio recording of the book at a used book sale and decided to play it in my car as I travel the southern roads of Alabama. The story surprised me with interesting characters told between a young couple whom are separated by incarceration and their lives are illustrated through letters to one another. To listen to Upstate by Kalisha Buckhanon on audio is the best way you can actually hear the maturity in the main characters, Natasha's voice as the story progresses just like she did in the story.The cover of this book caught my eye with a white butterfly on a red background. I have owned this book for several years and the only hesitation in reading it was on the assumption that it's of an urban nature based on its title "Upstate" referring to the New York and more precisely the prison. Urban is not my preferred genre, therefore I put off reading it until seven years later. This book invoked so many emotions within me, sorrowful, proudness, shame and bittersweet to name a few. This was a very reflective story on love, pain and coming of age.I'm anxiously awaiting to read her next novel, "Solemn"
    • 4/5
      This is a suprisingly good novel that starts very simply (with letters between Natashia, who vows to stand by her jailed boyfriend, accused of killing his father; and Antonio, a confused boy/man made to face the cruelty and abuse done to his family) but unwinds into layers of profound reflections regarding being born into, and surviving, a tough life. At its core, this is a love story, but really, says so much more. Through the letters, we grow up with these characters, in vastly different ways. There are so many novels out there where the characters are flat, but I felt like I was living with these two, they were brilliantly portrayed, down to the nuances of each of their daily lives. The reader is a voyeur on their lives and while I was a little tentative about the "letter" novel, it ended up being the ideal way to transport me into these lives. Ms. Buckanon has amazing potential and I will look for her other works. Highly recommended, but it is very graphic, both in violence, severe language and sexual content. But it's not a book I'll soon forget.
    • 2/5
      Someone told me before reading it that it was typical...and they were right. Everything I expected to happen, happened. I just wanted to be surprised just once.
    • 5/5
      Heartbreaking story of young love torn apart by a murder. It's very well-written and pulls the reader in to the character's world.
    • 4/5
      Upstate by Kalisha Buckhanon is written as a series of letters from two young people. The boy, Antonio is at first in jail and then in prison for the murder of his father. His girlfriend, Natasha lives and goes to school in Harlem, New York. This was an incredible reading experience as these two teenagers at first express all the passion they feel between them, talk about their lives growing up in Harlem, and of course, worry and plan for a future when Antonio is out of jail. Antonio is, at heart, a good kid. His father was a brutal man and regularly beat his wife and kids. When Antonio stepped between his father and his mother things went too far. I felt very much like a fly on the wall as Antonio struggles to keep his sanity while being locked up. He eventually gets his high school equivalency and works as a cleaner in the prison. Due to both his prison record and his lack of education, it is obvious that Antonio will be struggling for the rest of his life. Natasha is a good student and her world starts to widen when she first gets awarded a school trip to Paris, France and then realizes that she is smart enough to apply to the better universities, and doesn’t have to settle for a city college. Their letters show this growing apart and when Natasha leaves for college, they decide to remain “just friends”. The years pass and the letter get less frequent but one or the other stays in touch. Although their lives have gone in such different directions, they are bound together by their fondness for each other and the memories that they share.I thought the author did an amazing job with this story. This epistolary novel allowed the characters to feel genuine as they shared their inner thoughts, feelings and desires. Their love story is believable, as to was their eventual growing apart. A powerful coming-of-age story that gives the reader an insider’s look at the lives of young black people during the 1990’s. Sadly, I don’t think much has changed.
    • 5/5
      I really enjoyed this book. As a LMS in a high school I bought this book for my school library. Kids seemed to be really drawn to it. After I got a raving review by a junior that took it home. It is definately a page-turner. I really enjoyed it. Very realistic writing,'tones', and character. Young love and issues with growing up.