A story of breaking down and growing up, for young adults. Anna remembers a time before boys, when she was little and everything made sense. When she and her mom were a family, just the two of them against the world. But now her mom is gone most of the time, chasing the next marriage, bringing home the next stepfather. Anna is left on her own - until she discovers that she can make boys her family. From Desmond to Joey, Todd to Sam, Anna learns that if you give boys what they want, you can get what you need. But the price is high - the other kids make fun of her; the girls call her a slut. Anna's new friend, Toy, seems to have found a way around the loneliness, but Toy has her own secrets that even Anna can't know. Then comes Sam. When Anna actually meets a boy who is more than just useful, whose family eats dinner together, laughs, and tells stories, the truth about love becomes clear. And she finally learns how it feels to have something to lose - and something to offer. Real, shocking, uplifting, and stunningly lyrical, Uses for Boys by Erica Lorraine Scheidt is a story of breaking down and growing up.
Author
When I was a kid all I did was write. I dropped out of high school and attended the Jack Kerouac School of Disembodied Poetics at Naropa University where I was surrounded by writers and artists. But then, in my early twenties, I got a job. I worked hard at that job for 15 years and didn't write a word. Then this happened: I walked into a bookstore and bought two books by Francesca Lia Block. No particular reason, I just liked their covers. Then I read everything she wrote. I read all the YA I could. I still do. I think the world that happens between 13 and 17 is everything. I quit my job. I studied writing. I spent three and a half years writing Uses for Boys. Now I'm working on a new novel and it's like falling down a hole. Writing my first novel taught me nothing about writing the next one. Now I write. I live with my girlfriend and her daughter and when they come home we make dinner and walk the dog and dance around the kitchen and the next day I get up and I write.
