Being Fishkill

Being Fishkill tells the powerful story of Carmel Fishkill, a thirteen-year-old girl who has known little security or love. Born in a car and abandoned by an unstable mother, Carmel renames herself Fishkill and develops fierce defenses, including a strong left hook, to navigate a harsh world. Her journey takes an unexpected turn when she forms a tentative, loving family with the eccentric Duck-Duck Farina and her mother, Molly. This poignant novel explores themes of resilience, found family, identity, and overcoming adversity, even as it confronts the reappearance of her mother and an unfathomable tragedy. It is a raw, honest look at a young person's fight for belonging and stability.

Born in the backseat of a moving car, Carmel Fishkill was unceremoniously pushed into a world that refuses to offer her security, stability, love. At age thirteen, she begins to fight back. Carmel Fishkill becomes Fishkill Carmel, who deflects her tormenters with a strong left hook and conceals her secrets from teachers and social workers. But Fishkill's fierce defenses falter when she meets eccentric optimist Duck-Duck Farina, and soon they, along with Duck-Duck's mother, Molly, form a tentative family, even as Fishkill struggles to understand her place in it. This fragile new beginning is threatened by the reappearance of Fishkill's unstable mother and by unfathomable tragedy.