Life On The Refrigerator Door [Hardcover]

Kuipers's haunting debut unfolds like a flip book of half-drawn images too swiftly ended, a compilation of tantalizing notes posted on a refrigerator by a single working mom and Claire-bear, her wistful teen daughter. Bittersweet, funny and achingly real, the nameless mother (an overworked obstetrician) and bubbly Claire communicate through these notes instead of talking, e-mailing or text messaging. Missives range from the daughter's plainly impassioned (Hi MOM! (Who I never see anymore EVER!)) to her mother's soothing, tough-upper-lip responses written during her breast cancer treatment. Kuipers captures the anxiety surrounding tragedy and conveys the importance of fully experiencing life. Although the format has its limits (notably in character development and narrative momentum), Kuipers delivers a strong, emotional reminder about the importance of loved ones, even through times of unceasing complications and challenges. (Sept.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.

"In Alice Kuipers' deft hands, a mother and daughter's exchange of notes on a refrigerator becomes a metaphor for the evanescence of life. Call it the poetry of daily routine. Without warning, lists of groceries, appointments, and reminders transform into a meditation on the lost opportunities in our lives: the overlooked clues of fear and distress from our loved ones; and the wrenching aftershock when we recognize -- too late -- what's forever gone. In Kuipers' utterly original debut, the deceptively simple is charged in equal part, with technical dazzle, heartfelt humour, and emotional truth. Wow." -- Allan Stratton, author of Chanda's Secrets

Life on the Refrigerator Door is a poignant and deeply moving first novel about the bonds of love and frustration that tie mothers and daughters together. Told entirely in a series of notes left on the kitchen fridge - some casual, some intimate, some funny, some angry - it is the story of nine months in the life of 15-year-old Claire and her single mother. Preoccupied with their busy separate lives, rarely in the same room at the same time, they talk to each other in a series of short snippets that reflect the daily drama of school, boyfriends, work and chores that make up their days. Yet the mundane soon becomes extraordinary when a crisis overtakes their lives - a momentous change that will redefine their relationship and unfold in their exchanges on the refrigerator door.

Short, powerful and unforgettable, Kuipers' novel looks deep into the complex relationship between mothers and daughters, and the distances that can open up between people who live together but exist in their own worlds. Unfolding in a wonderfully simple and intimate narrative, Life on the Refrigerator Door will appeal to readers across the generations, delivering universal lessons about love.

ALICE KUIPERS is the author of Life on the Refrigerator Door. Sold in twenty-nine countries, it was the winner of the Saskatchewan First Book Award, the Sheffield Libraries Choice Award and the Grand Prix de Viarmes. It was longlisted for the Carnegie Medal and was named a New York Times Book for the Teen Age. Her second YA novel, The Worst Thing She Ever Did, published in eight territories to critical acclaim, was shortlisted for the White Pine Award and the Arthur Ellis Award. She lives in Saskatoon. Visit her at alicekuipers.com.

--This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.