Today, Micol Ostow stops by with a "this or that" list for Henry, one of the main characters in her recent release, Family, courtesy of the Teen Book Scene blog tour for Family. Thank you for being here, today Micol! You can follow along with the tour here. Enjoy this look into Henry's preferences.
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I'll try and answer these from Henry's point of view, as best I can.
Coffee or Tea? - Probably tea, but probably spiked with something harder. I think Henry's vices are a little bit stronger than caffeine.
Organized Religion or Spirituality? - Spirituality. The only religion he believes in is His own! (Does that mean he supports organized religion as long as it's his own organization? Maybe that's a better way to phrase it.)
Book or Newspaper? Both - for himself, not his family. He likes to be the one to pass information along to his followers at his own discretion.
Music or Solitude? Music. He believes that music is the key to fame, and therefore to spreading his own message.
Sunrise or Sunset? Sunset. The family is mostly night owls.
Black or White? Black, dark, bad, evil, chaos.
Family or Friends? Friends ARE family, and much more reliable - and pliable - than the family we're born with, who are all damaged and who project damage onto us.
Honesty or Lies? Lies and manipulation that are presented as honesty.
Singing or Dancing? Henry sings; his acolytes dance for him.
Art or Science? Art. Science is social manipulation and an effort to control by the educated, empowered "haves."
Mountain view or Beach view? Any natural landscape, as long as it's set apart from the mainstream.
Cottage or Tent? Tent. Henry is a survivalist.
Afterlife or no afterlife? We'll find out after Helter Skelter....
Thank you for that look into Henry's preferences!
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i have always been broken.
i could have. died.
and maybe it would have been better if i had.
It is a day like any other when seventeen-year-old Melinda Jensen hits the road for San Francisco, leaving behind her fractured home life and a constant assault on her self-esteem. Henry is the handsome, charismatic man who comes upon her, collapsed on a park bench, and offers love, a bright new consciousness, and—best of all—a family. One that will embrace her and give her love. Because family is what Mel has never really had. And this new family, Henry’s family, shares everything. They share the chores, their bodies, and their beliefs. And if Mel truly wants to belong, she will share in everything they do. No matter what the family does, or how far they go.
Told in episodic verse, family is a fictionalized exploration of cult dynamics, loosely based on the Manson Family murders of 1969. It is an unflinching look at people who are born broken, and the lengths they’ll go to to make themselves “whole” again.
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