Steve Watkins is the author of Down Sand Mountain. He says What Comes After was inspired by reading an article about a girl placed in foster care after an assault. "I recognized her - and others like her - through my work as an investigator and advocate in the juvenile justice system. I knew her story deserved to be told." A short-story writer and winner of a Pushcart Prize, Steve Watkins lives in Fredericksburg, Virginia.
What Comes After
eBook
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ISBN-13:
9780763654627
- Publisher: Candlewick Press
- Publication date: 04/12/2011
- Sold by: Barnes & Noble
- Format: eBook
- Lexile: HL800L (what's this?)
- File size: 559 KB
- Age Range: 14 - 17 Years
Available on NOOK devices and apps
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After her veterinarian dad dies, sixteen-year-old Iris Wight must leave her beloved Maine to live on a North Carolina farm with her hardbitten aunt and a cousin she barely knows. Iris, a vegetarian and animal lover, immediately clashes with Aunt Sue, who mistreats the livestock, spends Iris's small inheritance, and thinks nothing of striking Iris for the smallest offense. Things come to a head when Iris sets two young goats free to save them from slaughter, and an enraged Aunt Sue orders her brutish son, Book, to beat Iris senseless - a horrific act that lands Book and his mother in jail. Sent to live with an offbeat foster family and their "dooking" ferrets, Iris must find a way to take care of the animals back at the farm, even if it means confronting Aunt Sue. Powerful and deeply moving, this compelling novel affirms the redemptive power of animals and the resilience of the human spirit.
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Abandoned first by her abusive mother and then by her father when he dies, 16-year-old Iris Wight is no stranger to loss. Family friends initially agree to care for her, but problems soon force Iris to leave her home in Maine to live with relatives in North Carolina. Life with her angry aunt and dangerous cousin quickly proves more than she can handle. Before Iris' arrival, her aunt's abusive behavior was focused on the farm animals, but as Iris begins to protest the inhumane treatment of the goats, her aunt's cruelty shifts toward her. The violence culminates in a horrific beating that lands Iris in the hospital and her aunt and cousin in jail, leaving Iris to navigate yet another change. She must learn to wade through the foster-care system and deal with animosity at school while trying to find a way to care for her beloved goats left back at the farm. While never gratuitous, violence is pervasive; difficult scenes include one that graphically describes a goat being bludgeoned to death, which may prove to be a turn-off for some readers. Watkins displays his expertise as he creates a heroine who is broken and yet refuses to stay down. Secondary characters are equally well-developed and engaging. Beautifully written, this story is an unflinching look at the cruelty of life as well as the resilience of the human spirit. (Fiction. 14 & up)