Arts and Humanities | Open Access Articles | Digital Commons Network™

Dreamland, Corey Hashimoto Dec 2018

Dreamland, Corey Hashimoto

Corey Hashimoto

Set eight years after three United States Marines return home from Iraq,

Dreamland explores the effect their experience has on their relationships with

their loved ones and each other. The novel focuses on the reverberating effects a

single event during the second assault on Fallujah has on three remaining

members of a doomed assignment—a drug addict, a depressed artist, and an

anxiety-stricken father —each dealing with their trauma differently. Though all

three are on a path of self-destruction, Dreamland examines the toxic power of

isolation and the redemptive quality of shared purpose.

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My Blue World, Kimberly Knutsen Jun 2018

My Blue World, Kimberly Knutsen

Kimberly Knutsen

Opal Jean, age twelve, is flying to Michigan to visit her dad, who is serving a life sentence in prison for murder. Opal hasn’t seen her father in seven years, and while she longs for the “cold blue world” of her childhood, she is also struggling to break free of her father’s dark legacy.

The trip is a disaster. Luggage is lost, her mother has to “take a seat” in the airport and rattle the benzodiazepines in her purse, her teen brother attempts to order $30 worth of Coronas from room service, and Opal’s little brother is simultaneously thrilled and …

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Lying And Other Fun Habits, Emily Llerena May 2018