"A comically geeky coming-of-age story that brims with anxiety, resentment, and a surplus of compassion . . . a riot of language that's part hip-hop, part nerd boy, and part pure imagination . . .
Green earns . . . a spot on the continuum of vernacular in the American literary tradition, from
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn to
The Catcher in the Rye."
--The Boston Globe "Prickly and compelling . . . [Sam] Graham-Felsen lets boys be boys: messy-brained, impulsive, goatish, self-centered, outwardly gutsy but often inwardly terrified."
--The New York Times Book Review (Editors' Choice) "A coming-of-age tale of uncommon sweetness and feeling."
--The New Yorker
"A fierce and brilliant book, comic, poignant, perfectly observed, and blazing with all the urgent fears and longings of adolescence."
--Helen Macdonald, author of H Is for Hawk "A heartfelt and unassumingly ambitious book."
--Slate "Sam Graham-Felsen achieves an extraordinary balancing act, creating a poignant and convincing coming-of-age story while at the same time reflecting much larger themes about race and the country's changing social landscape."
--Jewish Book Council "Wry and moving."
--Shelf Awareness "One of the most original voices you'll read this year."
--Southern Living "Superb . . . a memorable first novel . . . [
Green is replete with] wonderful characters, fully realized and multidimensional."
--Booklist (starred review) "[
Green] poignantly captures the tumultuous feelings of adolescence against the historical backdrop of a racially segregated city and country."
--Library Journal "[A] subtly humorous, surprisingly touching coming-of-age narrative . . . a memorable and moving portrayal of a complicated but deep friendship that just might survive the weight placed on it."
--Publishers Weekly (starred review) "Astounding . . . I've rarely seen an author nail a time and a place with such gorgeous accuracy and heartbreaking hilarity. The strength of Sam Graham-Felsen's voice can lift up entire worlds."
--Gary Shteyngart, author of Super Sad True Love Story "Though it raises serious questions about race and inequality with a poignancy that took me aback,
Green is also funny and beautifully written, with not a word out of place,
and somehow managing to be both true to its young narrator's voice and bracingly intelligent in its depiction of a brutal societal impasse. I enjoyed this more than anything else I've read in ages."
--Adelle Waldman, author of The Love Affairs of Nathaniel P. "Sam Graham-Felsen has pioneered a new genre: free-stylin' social realism. If Balzac were a hip-hop artist, he might have produced a novel like
Green."
--Heidi Julavits, author The Folded Clock