ABOUT THE BOOK
Fragments: Journeys from Isolation to Connection
Written by Maura Pierlot
Ages 12+ | 126 Pages
Publisher: Big Ideas Press | ISBN-13: 978-0645099805
Maura Pierlot is an award-winning author and playwright who hails from New York but has called Canberra, Australia home since the early 1990s. Her writing delves into complex issues including memory, identity, self, and, more recently, mental health. Following its sellout 2019 season in Canberra, Maura’s debut professional theatre production, Fragments is being adapted for the digital space, supported by arts ACT. The work is published online by Australian Plays Transforms and in print by Big Ideas Press.
I feel like I’m a piece, a fragment that’s missing all the good bits, but I don’t know where to find the rest … the parts I need to work properly. I bet they wouldn’t fit anyway. (Lexy, age 17)
Publisher’s Synopsis: Eight young people navigating high school and beyond, each struggling to hold on – to family, to friends, to a piece of themselves. Perhaps you know them. The bubbly girl who keeps telling you she’s okay. The high achiever who’s suddenly so intense. The young teen obsessed with social media. The boy challenged by communication. Every single day they, and others, are working hard to keep it together. So hard, they don’t see their friends are struggling, too. Through eight imagined stories, Fragments moves from a place of disconnection to connectedness.
The action of Fragments takes place in the minds and hearts of an ordinary group of young people. Their stories encompass anxiety, depression, neurodivergence, gender dysphoria, social media, bullying, family dysfunction, cross-cultural diversity, and more, culminating in a sense of hope. Although set in Australia, their stories could take place anywhere.
From the Playwright
Rarely presenting as neat packages, mental health issues often involve feelings and behaviors with jagged edges and blurred origins. Fragments embodies the theme that stress at home, at school, and in life is challenging young people beyond their usual coping abilities, leaving them disenfranchised and vulnerable. So much of adolescent life is spent looking inwards that it’s perhaps not surprising that mental health issues are often internalized. I wrote Fragments to start a conversation. It’s only when we speak openly about mental health issues – without fear or judgment – that we can chip away at the stigma that prevents many people from seeking help. It is my hope that the work will find its way into schools in Australia and overseas. The publication includes a comprehensive Study Guide, detailing activities and curriculum links for English, Drama/Arts, Health & PE, Civics, and more.
A powerful and timely mental health resource for young people and their families. Essential reading for high school.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Maura is a past winner of the SOLO Monologue Competition, Hothouse Theatre for her play, Tapping Out. Her plays have been performed in Melbourne, Canberra, Sydney, Brisbane, and Hollywood. A former medical news reporter and editor of Australian Medicine, Maura also writes for children and young adults. In 2017 she was named winner of the CBCA Aspiring Writers Mentorship Program, and recipient of the Charlotte Waring Barton Award, for her young adult manuscript, Freefalling (now True North). Maura’s debut picture book, The Trouble in Tune Town won the 2018 ACT Writing and Publishing Award (Children’s category) along with international accolades.
Maura’s poetry, short stories, microfiction, and essays appear in various literary journals and anthologies. Maura has a bachelor’s degree, master’s degree, and doctorate, each in philosophy, specializing in ethics. When she’s not busy writing, Maura visits schools and libraries as a guest reader and speaker, serves as a Role Model for Books in Homes, and contributes reviews for the Children’s Book Council of Australia’s online magazine, Reading Time.
For further information on Maura and her work, Fragments please visit: https://maurapierlot.com and https://fragmentstheplay.com.
REVIEW
I felt like the play Fragments was very artistically done. The story itself is told in fragments of teens' lives and they feel broken like a fragment. I liked the idea of telling the story like the feelings of the characters. It's an interesting concept and idea. The story is modern and something that teen's can relate to with either themselves or friends that are handling complex and difficult issues in trying to figure out their place and to deal with mental health issues. This is a play that can easily help jumpstart conversations in the home and classroom. I also liked that the book had discussion points in the back. I feel like this could be a helpful tool and it helps adults to realize some of the issues that teens face in today's world. I think the play would be interesting to read out loud in a classroom as a reader's theater or to see performed. The "brokenness" and the "fragments" and the healing would come across more if you could hear different voices speaking the different parts. It was an interesting piece of literature and well-written. It would be interesting to see what the playwright does next.
GIVEAWAY
Enter for a chance to win a copy of Fragments and a $50 Amazon gift card!
One (1) grand prize winner receives:
- A copy of Fragments
- A $50 Amazon gift card
Four (4) winners receive:
- A copy of Fragments
The giveaway begins September 6, 2021, at 12:01 A.M. MT and ends October 6, 2021, at 11:59 P.M. MT.
This post is in partnership with The Children’s Book Review and Big Ideas Press.
I'd love to win because I love good books!
ReplyDelete