By Ellen Weisberg ISBN: 9781847471185
Published: 2007
Pages: 366
Key Themes: North American author, fiction, relationships
Description
'Gathering Roses' is a young adult novel with a much wider appeal. Introverted and studious Lori Solomon meets nonconformist Grateful Dead follower, Nick Warren, and soon finds herself on a seemingly endless carnival ride with him. Although not always apparent to Lori, it is Nick's precarious health condition that seems to underlie his outlook on life, influencing what he expects to get out of it as well as what he feels he needs to put into it.
Ellen's takes a modern and novel appoach to writing fiction, as well as using prose she also uses email conversations to tell her story. This is a delightful book, a most enjoyable read.
About the Author
Ellen Weisberg has a Ph.D. in pharmacology and is actively involved in leukemia research. She also does part-time weather broadcasting for radio. A member of the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI), Ellen's writing credentials include a short story, entitled 'Fruit of the Vine', and poem, entitled 'If Only', published in 'PKA's Advocate', and a children's U.S. geography book, entitled 'Friends and Mates in Fifty States', co-authored by her husband, Ken Yoffe, and which is being published by Minnesota-based Galde Press. Finally, Ellen is an illustrator for e-cards and print cards developed by Mountain Mist Productions.
Book Extract
Lori's internship at the radio station continued. She was assigned to start working some of her weekend shifts apart from Nick, and instead alongside a young woman named Helga. Like Lori, Helga had limited experience in radio and was training as she worked on the job. The conversations Lori had with her were short and focused only on the tasks at hand, which made for a very different atmosphere than the one Lori had grown accustomed to working alongside Nick. It also made for an atmosphere that she didn't enjoy nearly as much.
It was the evening after a long day of battling stream after stream of whiny complaints from Prima Donna talk show hosts, while taking care to press all the right buttons and shift levers in a timely fashion. Lori settled comfortably in her seat and looked over at Helga, ready to reflect on what she thought was a decent day's work, when the control room door opened. A frazzled, bearded black man stood a few feet away from the girls, pinching an inkless pen tightly between his thumb and forefinger. He tossed the pen angrily into a nearby garbage can.