Labor Day - by Joyce Maynard (Paperback)

About the Book

In a manner evoking Ian McEwan's "Atonement" and Nick Hornby's "About a Boy," acclaimed author Maynard weaves a beautiful, poignant tale of love, sex, adolescence, and devastating treachery as seen through the eyes of a young teenage boy.

Book Synopsis

"Joyce Maynard is in top-notch form with Labor Day. Simply a novel you cannot miss."

--Jodi Picoult, New York Times bestselling author of My Sister's Keeper and Keeping Faith

"Maynard has created an ensemble of characters that will sneak into your heart, and warm it while it breaks."

--St. Petersburg Times

Joyce Maynard, acclaimed author of At Home in the World, is back with Labor Day. The unforgettable story of a mother and son forever changed during a long summer weekend when a mysterious man comes into their lives. Labor Day is "a sexy, page turning, poignant story" (Jane Hamilton, author of A Map of the World) that "affirms Maynard's reputation as a master storyteller and shows her to be a passionate humanist with a gifted ear and heart" (People)

From the Back Cover

With the end of summer closing in and a steamy Labor Day weekend looming in the town of Holton Mills, New Hampshire, lonely, friendless thirteen-year-old Henry spends most of his time watching television, reading, and daydreaming with only his emotionally fragile, long-divorced mother for company. But everything changes on the Thursday before the holiday weekend when a mysterious bleeding man named Frank asks Henry for a hand. Over the next five days, Henry will learn some of life's most valuable lessons, about the breathless pain of jealousy, the power of betrayal, and the importance of putting those we care about above ourselves--and that real love is worth waiting for.

From acclaimed author Joyce Maynard comes a beautiful, poignant tale of love, sex, adolescence, and devastating treachery as seen through the eyes of a young teenager--and the man he later becomes.

Review Quotes

"Riveting and disturbing." - Katha Pollitt, New York Times Book Review on At Home in the World
"Dazzling." - Jules Siegel, San Francisco Chronicle on At Home in the World
"Unique and chilling." - Detroit News
"Maynard has created an ensemble of characters that will sneak into your heart, and warm it while it breaks." - St. Petersburg Times
"But apart from being a successful thriller, this book is a fascinating portrait of what causes a family to founder, and how much it can cost to put it back on the right path. " - NPR.org
"The novel is an extended meditation on the nature of love, grief and loneliness.... Maynard has created an ensemble of characters that will sneak into your heart, and warm it while it breaks. " - St. Petersburg Times
"Maynard gets inside the head of an adolescent boy who is grappling with his own identity and the mysteries of sex (while revealing the secrets of making perfect pie crust). " - Salt Lake City Tribune
"Maynard spins a fascinating story of damaged people seeking the one thing they long for - love. " - Wichita Falls, TX, Times Record News
"Labor Day is a startling novel of love, friendship, trust, treachery, betrayal, and the deep lessons that we learn in life.... It's a powerful, poignant mix in the hands of author Joyce Maynard and a novel no one should miss." - www.Gather.com
"Labor Day is both a coming-of-age story and a love story- a tale of profound loss, redemption and soul searching that is not to be missed." - www.MyDailyFind.com
"At once beautiful and disturbing, this remarkable novel...is a moving read." - BookPage.com on LABOR DAY
"a haunting and hopeful story" - Hartford Courant
"[A] sweet, swift read that will leave you feeling good." - Minneapolis Star Tribune
"surprisingly moving" - Arizona Republic
"Maynard offers fresh insight into what constitutes family." - USA Today
"It is a testament to Maynard's skill that she makes this ominous setup into a convincing and poignant coming-of-age tale." - Washington Post
"Maynard details Henry's roller-coaster emotions for Frank - he is both jealous and grateful - and his mother's emotional journeys - with skill and tenderness for the uncertain willingness of broken hearts to mend. The poignant results are revealing of our ability to forgive and to grow." - Smart Money
"Labor Day is suffused with tenderness, dreaminess and love....first and foremost a page-turner...[it] puts back together the world that it destroys....you definitely need to get a box of tissues." - Newsday
"an uplifting story told by a boy who is just beginning to understand what life is all about." - St. Petersburg Times
"Maynard...is in top form in this tale of love, betrayal and forgiveness." - Record Searchlight (Redding, CA)
"Maynard expertly tugs heartstrings in a tidy tale. " - Kirkus Reviews
"Maynard's inventive coming-of-age tale indelibly captures the anxiety and confusion inherent in adolescence, while the addition of a menacing element of suspense makes this emotionally fraught journey that much more harrowing." - Booklist
"Joyce Maynard is in top-notch form with Labor Day. From the perfect pitch of a teenaged boy narrator to the eloquent message of how loneliness can bind people together, this is simply a novel you cannot miss." - Jodi Picoult, New York Times bestselling author of My Sister's Keeper and Handle With Care
"beautifully written" - New Orleans Times-Picayune
"Powerful." - Newark Star Ledger
"Joyce Maynard is one of those blessed authors who can compress al lifetime's worth of ideas and emotions into a spare piece of work. . . . Maynard has forged an indelible, precise portrait of early adolescence. It's a perfect late-summer book, a page-turner that also makes you think." - Dallas Morning News
"Maynard deftly pulls the reader into the fragile lives of these three vulnerable characters and their preordained march toward the novel's denouement. A marvelous read--perfect for one long sitting--this novel leaves the reader wishing it didn't ever have to end." - BookPage
"[The] story is moving and fast-moving, affirming Maynard's reputation as a master storyteller and showing her to be a passionate humanist with a gifted ear and heart. . . . Maynard illuminates the human experience." - People (Four Stars)