Urban Fiction: Upstate

A short video from author Kalisha Buckhanon giving advice and her experiences about writing

Check out her website here: http://www.kalisha.com/

Buckhanon, Kalisha. Upstate: A Novel. New York: St. Martin's Press, 2005. Print. ISBN: 0-312-33268-8; hardcover, $19.95.

Annotation: The letters between Antonio and Natasha, two teenagers in love but separated by Antonio being in jail for being accused of murdering his father.

Book Awards

Illinois Arts Council Artist Fellowship in Prose (2001)

Hurston-Wright Foundation Legacy Award in Debut Fiction- finalist (2006)

American Library Association ALEX Award (2006)

Audio Publishers Association Audie Award in Literary Fiction (2006)

Terry McMillan Young Author Award at the National Book Club Conference (2006)

Friends of American Writers Adult Literary Fiction Award (2009)

Book Talk: Antonio and Natasha are two teenagers in love in Harlem New York City. Their relationship is put to the ultimate test as Antonio is in jail being accused of murdering his Father. Through their letters, their relationship is explored through past experiences and their feelings toward their future.

" When I'm 21, you'll just be 20. When I get out we can get married real quick and start a family and buy a house where you can do hair or make clothes in the basement and I can have a music studio or sumthin down there too. We can do it. We can get through it and this can happen for us. I just need for you not to be mad at me and not to leave me, just to stick by me and not to leave me."

Their relationship is strained as Natasha has to make difficult decisions about Antonio while he left with his despair and longing to be free with the girl he loves. Their correspondence , full of raw emotion, demonstrate that their love for each other can only last for so long as Antonio remains locked up. Will they be together when Antonio gets out or will Natasha let go of the boy she was in love with before Antonio got locked up?