Monday, 19 December 2011
Couples Countdown: Guest Post by Kirstin Cronn Mills
I’m delighted to welcome Kirstin Cronn-Mills, author of the fabulous The Sky Always Hears Me and The Hills Don’t Mind. I haven’t read BROOKLYN BURNING but I really want to after this post! Thanks so much for sharing Kirstin!
Have you ever been in the kind of love where you need someone, not just need-need them, but you need them for something, like to do something important, but you don’t know where they are so you look for them all over town in places they might go, but they’re not there, so you keep searching even though you might not find them, but you have to find them? And then when you do find them, or they find you, you breathe a sigh of relief, because they’re there again, thank god, and you can rest a little bit? Ever feel like that? Yeah. That’s Kid’s love for Scout. That’s BROOKLYN, BURNING, by Steve Brezenoff.
Have you ever been in the kind of love where you need someone, not just need-need them, but you need them for something, like to do something important, but you don’t know where they are so you look for them all over town in places they might go, but they’re not there, so you keep searching even though you might not find them, but you have to find them? And then when you do find them, or they find you, you breathe a sigh of relief, because they’re there again, thank god, and you can rest a little bit? Ever feel like that? Yeah. That’s Kid’s love for Scout. That’s BROOKLYN, BURNING, by Steve Brezenoff.
BROOKLYN, BURNING is the story of the different people Kid loves. There’s Konny, his longtime friend, but there’s also Jonny the hustler, Fish the bar owner, and Felix the junkie. And then there’s Scout. Scout becomes Kid’s summer love, and their passion twines around and through their guitar and drum kit. Anybody who’s been a teenager recognizes Kid and Scout their shy but connected affection, their hesitation to get too close for fear of losing and hurting. We hope for them, we root for them. We want them to kiss, dammit! And when they finally do, it is sweet for everyone.
What’s most lovely about Kid and Scout is Brezenoff’s decision not to tell us who they are aside from their names. We know Felix is a guy, Fish is a woman, Konny is a teenage girl, and Jonny is a male for sale. But Kid and Scout are just Kid and Scout. We see them—hair flapping over Scout’s eyes, shirt pulling up out of Kid’s pants to show Kid’s stomach—but those vague descriptions are as far as Brezenoff goes. They’re just two kids, trying to find themselves and finding each other in the process. Their relationship moves past pronouns. To me, this is the essence of love—it doesn’t matter who we are or who we’re loving, it just matters that we keep loving.
(A side note: my other favorite couple in this book is Brezenoff and Brooklyn. He’s clearly in love with her, and because of it, so are we. )
Kirstin Cronn-Mills can be found blogging here. The Sky Always Hears Me and The Hills Don’t Mind is in bookstores and at The Book Depository. Kirstin’s new book Beautiful Music for Ugly Children is out 2012 and sounds amazing!
(A side note: my other favorite couple in this book is Brezenoff and Brooklyn. He’s clearly in love with her, and because of it, so are we. )
Kirstin Cronn-Mills can be found blogging here. The Sky Always Hears Me and The Hills Don’t Mind is in bookstores and at The Book Depository. Kirstin’s new book Beautiful Music for Ugly Children is out 2012 and sounds amazing!
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I absolutley loved 'The sky always hears me and the hills dont mind'!
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Abbey – I'm glad, it's a great book!
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Wow. I'd never heard of that book. It sounds really good. And I'll check out your book too. It's got such a great title!
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BROOKLYN, BURNING sounds terrific! I love the characters' names! Fish, Kid, Scout…awesome. Thanks for the book recommendation, Kristin! I'll add your books to my To Read list, too!
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