Upstate

UPSTATE by

Category: Contemporary

Age Recommendation: Grades 9+

Release Date: 1/10/06

Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin

Reviewed by: Jocelyn Pearce

Rating: 5 Stars

UPSTATE is a powerful, moving story told in the form of letters written by Antonio and Natasha, two Harlem

teens

who are seventeen and sixteen years old, respectively, when the story starts. The first letter is from

Antonio to his

girlfriend Natasha, written from jail, asking if she believes what everyone else does: that

Antonio murdered his father.

No matter what Natasha believes or what the truth is about what happened on that night, Antonio is convicted

of the

crime and goes to a prison in upstate New York (hence the title), sentenced to ten years. Ten years of

just struggling

to survive, clinging to his letters from Natasha, his lifeline even if they can't, realistically, be

together forever, no matter

what they believe as optimistic teenagers when Antonio first goes to jail. Natasha,

on the other had, isn't having an

easy time of growing up and becoming a real adult. She's facing tough

choices, probably almost as desperate for the

next letter as Antonio.

This is an emotional story, a love story, but a real one, not a happily-ever-after, "no problems whatsoever"

story like a

Disney movie. The characters in UPSTATE are just as real as the story, and Antonio's and

Natasha's authentic voices

are a great addition to this novel.

Usually, I am not a big fan of novels written in letter form (or e-mail or instant message form, as is sometimes

now the

case), but Kalisha Buckhanon's novel is certainly an exception to that. It is very well-written, with

believable

characters that make this story what it is: fantastic.

Upstate
by Kalisha Buckhanon