Mercury Under My Tongue (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9781933368962)

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.

Author: Sylvain Trudel
ISBN-10: 1933368969
ISBN-13: 9781933368962
Publisher: Soft Skull
Language: English
Published: 01/01/2008
Pages: 160
Format: Paperback
Weight: 0.27lbs
Size: 8.02h x 5.46w x 0.43d

Review Citation(s):
Publishers Weekly 11/19/2007 pg. 34
Entertainment Weekly 02/15/2008 pg. 69
Voice of Youth Advocates 02/01/2008 pg. 534 - Reviewed - How Did It Get Published
School Library Journal 03/01/2008 pg. 233
Booklist 02/15/2008 pg. 35
Quill & Quire 04/01/2008 pg. 31
New York Times Book Review 08/03/2008 pg. 19