Overview

In this LGBTQ+ YA coming-of-age novel, a teenage girl grapples with the suicide of a classmate and her mother's depression, while discovering her own gender fluidity and sexual identity. Fifteen-year-old Eleanor Fromme just chopped off all of her hair. How else should she cope after hearing that her bully, James, just took his own life? When Eleanor's English teacher suggests students write a letter to a person who would never receive it to get their feelings out, Eleanor chooses James. With each letter she writes, Eleanor discovers more about herself, even while trying to make sense of his death. And, with the help of a unique cast of characters, Eleanor not only learns what it means to be inside a body that does not quite match what she feels on the inside, but also comes to terms with her own mother's mental illness. Set against a 1993-era backdrop of grunge rock and riot grrl bands, Everything Grows depicts Eleanor's extraordinary journey to solve the mystery within her and feel complete. Along the way, she loses and gains friends, rebuilds relationships with her family, and develops a system of support to help figure out the language of her queer identity. 'Awkward, affirming, and compassionate, this story about coming into one's identity will win over the hearts of its young adult audiences' - Forewood Reviews 'Everything Grows will grow inside you like a revelation, slowly unfolding to a shape that is vulnerable, raw and beautifully alive...' - Max Wolf Valerio, author of The Testosterone Files

Full Product Details

9781941110683

Table of Contents

Reviews

Past Praise for Aimee Herman Particular and fierce . . . Much like the heartfelt narratives of Lidia Yuknavitch's novels, but Herman's pieces are schisms of a form slowly coming together. By body, by light, by night. -Jacket 2 This is re-wiring where it counts: below the lexicon. Below the public-private register. -Bhanu Kapil, author, Ban et Banlieue The work done in this book is desperately necessary. The next time someone grumbles about the uselessness of poetry, put these poems in their hands. -Rain Taxi The grace, honesty, and bravery with which [Herman] addresses issues that many won't touch with a ten-foot pole will shake you to the core. -Blotterature A visceral, wide eyed, queer movement that creates 'sturdy retinas' in those of us who participate. J/J Hastain, author Identity Collages Aimee Herman celebrates and contradicts our expectations in her disturbing juxtapositions of unexpected images. -Maureen Owen, author, Erosion's Pull [Herman's] words are a recipe for seeing differently. -Daphne Gottlieb, author, Pretty Much Dead

Praise for Everything Grows 12 Most Anticipated Historical YA Fiction of 2019 Yes, yes, the '90s counts as historical fiction now, so get that grumbling out of your system and fire up some Nirvana and Bikini Kill! Check out this one set in 1993 and starring fifteen-year-old Eleanor. ... [Her bully's] death and her feelings about it aren't all that are on her mind; she's dealing with her mother's mental illness and questions about her gender and sexuality, and it'll take making and breaking relationships and forging a support system to help her find her way through. --BN Teen Blog Everything Grows is a sweet and moving read about a young person growing up, coming out, and trying to find the right words to speak their truth. --Easy Vegan Everything Grows is haunting. It touches the darkness of bullying and suicide, yet brims with hope. Aimee Herman's tender debut novel is an achingly real exploration of grief, self-discovery, forgiveness, and love. --Meagan Brothers, author, Weird Girl and What's His Name Everything Grows will grow inside you like a revelation, slowly unfolding to a shape that is vulnerable, raw and beautifully alive. . . . There's tender wisdom and a wonderfully rendered young voice that anyone can recognize as human and real--all against a backdrop of riotgrrl rebellion. Teen embodiment becomes self- conscious, painful, and filled with contradictions. Herman writes a real story, teaching everyone a little about life as lived--genuinely and in discovery. --Max Wolf Valerio, Author, The Testosterone Files Past Praise for Aimee Herman Particular and fierce . . . Much like the heartfelt narratives of Lidia Yuknavitch's novels, but Herman's pieces are schisms of a form slowly coming together. By body, by light, by night. --Jacket 2 This is re-wiring where it counts: below the lexicon. Below the public-private register. --Bhanu Kapil, author, Ban et Banlieue The work done in this book is desperately necessary. The next time someone grumbles about the uselessness of poetry, put these poems in their hands. --Rain Taxi The grace, honesty, and bravery with which [Herman] addresses issues that many won't touch with a ten-foot pole will shake you to the core. --Blotterature A visceral, wide eyed, queer movement that creates 'sturdy retinas' in those of us who participate. J/J Hastain, author Identity Collages Aimee Herman celebrates and contradicts our expectations in her disturbing juxtapositions of unexpected images. --Maureen Owen, author, Erosion's Pull [Herman's] words are a recipe for seeing differently. --Daphne Gottlieb, author, Pretty Much Dead

High Praise for Everything Grows Awkward, affirming, and compassionate, this story about coming into one's identity will win over the hearts of its young adult audiences. --Foreword Reviews 12 Most Anticipated Historical YA Fiction of 2019 Yes, yes, the '90s counts as historical fiction now, so get that grumbling out of your system and fire up some Nirvana and Bikini Kill! Check out this one set in 1993 and starring fifteen-year-old Eleanor. ... [Her bully's] death and her feelings about it aren't all that are on her mind; she's dealing with her mother's mental illness and questions about her gender and sexuality, and it'll take making and breaking relationships and forging a support system to help her find her way through. --BN Teen Blog LGBT YA Books to Get Excited for in 2019 --Autostraddle Page-turning prose . . . with great beauty. --Kirkus Reviews Everything Grows is a sweet and moving read about a young person growing up, coming out, and trying to find the right words to speak their truth. --Easy Vegan Everything Grows is a work of healing. It describes coming out as a lifelong process of discovery. Friendship, disfunction, parenting good and bad, and learning to love are unspooled here against a background of exquisite caring. It is the rare read that leaves one a wiser person. Steven Taylor, author, False Prophet: Fieldnotes from the Punk Underground; editor, Don't Hide the Madness: William S. Burroughs in Conversation with Allen Ginsberg Set in the decade of grunge rock and ill-advised do-it-yourself body piercings, Aimee Herman's Everything Grows chronicles a sometimes heartbreaking, sometimes funny journey to acceptance, both of self and others. Eleanor Fromme is a witty, kind, and conflicted narrator who could teach many people in our nation a lot about empathy. --Julia Watts, author, Quiver Everything Grows is haunting. It touches the darkness of bullying and suicide, yet brims with hope. Aimee Herman's tender debut novel is an achingly real exploration of grief, self-discovery, forgiveness, and love. --Meagan Brothers, author, Weird Girl and What's His Name Everything Grows will grow inside you like a revelation, slowly unfolding to a shape that is vulnerable, raw and beautifully alive. . . . There's tender wisdom and a wonderfully rendered young voice that anyone can recognize as human and real--all against a backdrop of riotgrrl rebellion. Teen embodiment becomes self- conscious, painful, and filled with contradictions. Herman writes a real story, teaching everyone a little about life as lived--genuinely and in discovery. --Max Wolf Valerio, Author, The Testosterone Files Past Praise for Aimee Herman Particular and fierce . . . Much like the heartfelt narratives of Lidia Yuknavitch's novels, but Herman's pieces are schisms of a form slowly coming together. By body, by light, by night. --Jacket 2 This is re-wiring where it counts: below the lexicon. Below the public-private register. --Bhanu Kapil, author, Ban et Banlieue The work done in this book is desperately necessary. The next time someone grumbles about the uselessness of poetry, put these poems in their hands. --Rain Taxi The grace, honesty, and bravery with which [Herman] addresses issues that many won't touch with a ten-foot pole will shake you to the core. --Blotterature A visceral, wide eyed, queer movement that creates 'sturdy retinas' in those of us who participate. J/J Hastain, author Identity Collages Aimee Herman celebrates and contradicts our expectations in her disturbing juxtapositions of unexpected images. --Maureen Owen, author, Erosion's Pull [Herman's] words are a recipe for seeing differently. --Daphne Gottlieb, author, Pretty Much Dead

Past Praise for Aimee Herman Particular and fierce . . . Much like the heartfelt narratives of Lidia Yuknavitch's novels, but Herman's pieces are schisms of a form slowly coming together. By body, by light, by night. --Jacket 2 This is re-wiring where it counts: below the lexicon. Below the public-private register. --Bhanu Kapil, author, Ban et Banlieue The work done in this book is desperately necessary. The next time someone grumbles about the uselessness of poetry, put these poems in their hands. --Rain Taxi The grace, honesty, and bravery with which [Herman] addresses issues that many won't touch with a ten-foot pole will shake you to the core. --Blotterature A visceral, wide eyed, queer movement that creates 'sturdy retinas' in those of us who participate. J/J Hastain, author Identity Collages Aimee Herman celebrates and contradicts our expectations in her disturbing juxtapositions of unexpected images. --Maureen Owen, author, Erosion's Pull [Herman's] words are a recipe for seeing differently. --Daphne Gottlieb, author, Pretty Much Dead

Praise for Everything Grows 12 Most Anticipated Historical YA Fiction of 2019 Yes, yes, the '90s counts as historical fiction now, so get that grumbling out of your system and fire up some Nirvana and Bikini Kill! Check out this one set in 1993 and starring fifteen-year-old Eleanor. ... [Her bully's] death and her feelings about it aren't all that are on her mind; she's dealing with her mother's mental illness and questions about her gender and sexuality, and it'll take making and breaking relationships and forging a support system to help her find her way through. --BN Teen Blog Everything Grows is a sweet and moving read about a young person growing up, coming out, and trying to find the right words to speak their truth. --Easy Vegan Everything Grows will grow inside you like a revelation, slowly unfolding to a shape that is vulnerable, raw and beautifully alive. Fifteen year old Eleanor writes letters to James, the boy who bullied her, who mysteriously committed suicide. The letters become an ongoing conversation Eleanor is having with the world, with herself: her love, her need to recognize herself and to be recognized, her mother's mental illness, her awareness of her sexuality as her body changes. There's tender wisdom and a wonderfully rendered young voice that anyone can recognize as human and real--all against a backdrop of riotgrrl rebellion. Teen embodiment becomes self- conscious, painful, and filled with contradictions. Herman writes a real story, teaching everyone a little about life as lived--genuinely and in discovery. --Max Wolf Valerio, Author, The Testosterone Files Past Praise for Aimee Herman Particular and fierce . . . Much like the heartfelt narratives of Lidia Yuknavitch's novels, but Herman's pieces are schisms of a form slowly coming together. By body, by light, by night. --Jacket 2 This is re-wiring where it counts: below the lexicon. Below the public-private register. --Bhanu Kapil, author, Ban et Banlieue The work done in this book is desperately necessary. The next time someone grumbles about the uselessness of poetry, put these poems in their hands. --Rain Taxi The grace, honesty, and bravery with which [Herman] addresses issues that many won't touch with a ten-foot pole will shake you to the core. --Blotterature A visceral, wide eyed, queer movement that creates 'sturdy retinas' in those of us who participate. J/J Hastain, author Identity Collages Aimee Herman celebrates and contradicts our expectations in her disturbing juxtapositions of unexpected images. --Maureen Owen, author, Erosion's Pull [Herman's] words are a recipe for seeing differently. --Daphne Gottlieb, author, Pretty Much Dead

Praise for Everything Grows 12 Most Anticipated Historical YA Fiction of 2019 Yes, yes, the '90s counts as historical fiction now, so get that grumbling out of your system and fire up some Nirvana and Bikini Kill! Check out this one set in 1993 and starring fifteen-year-old Eleanor. ... [Her bully's] death and her feelings about it aren't all that are on her mind; she's dealing with her mother's mental illness and questions about her gender and sexuality, and it'll take making and breaking relationships and forging a support system to help her find her way through. --BN Teen Blog 68 LGBT YA Books to Get Excited for in 2019 --Autostraddle Page-turning prose . . . with great beauty. --Kirkus Reviews Everything Grows is a sweet and moving read about a young person growing up, coming out, and trying to find the right words to speak their truth. --Easy Vegan Everything Grows is a work of healing. It describes coming out as a lifelong process of discovery. Friendship, disfunction, parenting good and bad, and learning to love are unspooled here against a background of exquisite caring. It is the rare read that leaves one a wiser person. Steven Taylor, author, False Prophet: Fieldnotes from the Punk Underground; editor, Don't Hide the Madness: William S. Burroughs in Conversation with Allen Ginsberg Set in the decade of grunge rock and ill-advised do-it-yourself body piercings, Aimee Herman's Everything Grows chronicles a sometimes heartbreaking, sometimes funny journey to acceptance, both of self and others. Eleanor Fromme is a witty, kind, and conflicted narrator who could teach many people in our nation a lot about empathy. --Julia Watts, author, Quiver Everything Grows is haunting. It touches the darkness of bullying and suicide, yet brims with hope. Aimee Herman's tender debut novel is an achingly real exploration of grief, self-discovery, forgiveness, and love. --Meagan Brothers, author, Weird Girl and What's His Name Everything Grows will grow inside you like a revelation, slowly unfolding to a shape that is vulnerable, raw and beautifully alive. . . . There's tender wisdom and a wonderfully rendered young voice that anyone can recognize as human and real--all against a backdrop of riotgrrl rebellion. Teen embodiment becomes self- conscious, painful, and filled with contradictions. Herman writes a real story, teaching everyone a little about life as lived--genuinely and in discovery. --Max Wolf Valerio, Author, The Testosterone Files Past Praise for Aimee Herman Particular and fierce . . . Much like the heartfelt narratives of Lidia Yuknavitch's novels, but Herman's pieces are schisms of a form slowly coming together. By body, by light, by night. --Jacket 2 This is re-wiring where it counts: below the lexicon. Below the public-private register. --Bhanu Kapil, author, Ban et Banlieue The work done in this book is desperately necessary. The next time someone grumbles about the uselessness of poetry, put these poems in their hands. --Rain Taxi The grace, honesty, and bravery with which [Herman] addresses issues that many won't touch with a ten-foot pole will shake you to the core. --Blotterature A visceral, wide eyed, queer movement that creates 'sturdy retinas' in those of us who participate. J/J Hastain, author Identity Collages Aimee Herman celebrates and contradicts our expectations in her disturbing juxtapositions of unexpected images. --Maureen Owen, author, Erosion's Pull [Herman's] words are a recipe for seeing differently. --Daphne Gottlieb, author, Pretty Much Dead

Author Information

Aimee Herman is a two-time Pushcart Prize nominated poet and performance artist based in Brooklyn, New York, looking to disembowel the architecture of gender and what it means to queer the body. Aimee is also the author of two poetry collections, to go without blinking (BlazeVOX books) and meant to wake up feeling (great weather for MEDIA). Her work has been widely published in the U.S. and internationally in literary journals including Lavender Review, EDUCE, Sous Les Pave, and the Lambda Award-winning anthology Troubling the Line: Trans and Genderqueer Poetry and Poetics (Nightboat Books). Aimee has taught at various universities and colleges including: CUNY Grad Center, St Johns University (Queens), Malloy College (Long Island), Stoneybrook University (Long Island), City College of New York, and Metro State (CO). She lives in Brooklyn.

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