Last Night I Sang to the Monster
By Benjamin Alire Saenz
(Cinco Puntos Press, Hardcover, 9781933693583, 304pp.)
Publication Date: September 2009
Other Editions of This Title: Compact Disc, Compact Disc, MP3 CD, MP3 CD, Paperback
Categories: Social Issues - Drugs, Alcohol, & Substance Abuse
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"Sáenz' poetic narrative will captivate readers from the first sentence to the last paragraph of this beautifully written novel. . . . It is also a celebration of life and a song of hope in celebration of family and friendship, one that will resonate loud and long with teens."Kirkus Reviews
" There is never a question of either Sáenz’s own extraordinary capacity for caring and compassion or the authenticity of the experiences he records in this heartfelt account of healing and hope."Booklist
"Offering insight into [an adolescent's] addiction, dysfunction and mental illness, particularly in the wake of traumatic events, Sáenz's artful rendition of the healing process will not soon be forgotten."Publishers Weekly
"Sáenz weaves together [18-year-old] Zach's past, present, and changing disposition toward his future with stylistic grace and emotional insight. This is a powerful and edifying look into both a tortured psyche and the methods by which it can be healed."School Library Journal
Zach is eighteen. He is bright and articulate. He's also an alcoholic and in rehab instead of high school, but he doesn't remember how he got there. He's not sure he wants to remember. Something bad must have happened. Something really, really bad. Remembering sucks and being alivewell, what's up with that?
Benjamin Alire Sáenz is a novelist, poet, essayist and writer of children's books. He has received the Wallace Stegner Fellowship, the Lannan Fellowship and an American Book Award. He teaches at the University of Texas at El Paso, and considers himself a fronterizo, a person of the border.

This book is on these lists:
2011 Top Ten Best Fiction for Young Adults by Mitali PerkinsPicnic Basket Features by dsloanandco
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