Mercury Under My Tongue

A Novel

By Trudel, Sylvain & Fischman, Sheila

Publishers Summary:
Frederick Langlois could be that geeky 17-year-old found in every high school — the one who closely clutches his poem-filled notebook, who feels a bit too deeply, who’s just a little too old for his years. But Frederick isn’t in high school. He’s in a hospital ward with other critically ill adolescents, dying of bone cancer. Mercury Under the Tongue chronicles his short stay there, from his distant but friendly relationship with his therapist through comic moments in the ward and his emergent friendships with other teenage patients. Some survive, others are lost, and at the end, Frederick must make a final reckoning with himself and his family, one that is at once dispassionate and deeply felt. Avoiding both misty stoicism and made-for-TV bathos, the book exposes the fallible body as the humanizing factor that grounds spirited adolescent talk, creating a believable, likable protagonist while weaving a compelling, lyrical story.

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ISBN
978-1-93336-896-2
Publisher
Soft Skull Press


REVIEWS

School Library Journal

Reviewed on March 1, 2008

Adult/High School Frederick Langlois is a 17-year-old philosopher in the tradition of a young Thomas Wolfe or Jack Kerouac. In wordy, raw, sometimes aggressive prose, he mourns the insincerity of the adult world, his own isolation, the apathetic wastefulness of his fathers life, and a powerful disconnection from the Catholic Church. At the same time, Fredericks precise understanding and intense warmth intensify his connection to those who surround him. Moments with his mother, grandmother, siblings, and friends pul...Log In or Sign Up to Read More

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