Nina - Adolescence

At fifteen, Nina is trapped in the net of her parents' grief over the accidental death of her little brother. Eager to hold the family together, she realizes that her mother's painting is the only way to rescue her from the brink of despair. At Nina's urging, her mother returns to the studio, where she begins a series of nude portraits of her remaining child-paintings that will chronicle the slow unfolding of a girl's body into a woman's. The novel examines the central questions of adolescence, sexuality and identify, as well as raises questions about the limits of artistic freedom, and tenuous balance between serving oneself and serving the other in intimate relationships. It will be engaging reading for anyone who's gone through the pain and joy of growing up. Amy Hassinger was born in Newton, MA, and graduated from Barnard College and the Iowa Writers' Workshop, where she received her MFA in fiction writing. She is the author of two novels. Deemed superb by O, the Oprah Magazine and "truly penetrating" by Salon.com, Nina: Adolescence has been translated into Dutch and Portuguese and was named a semi-finalist for the 2005 Julia Peterkin Award. Her stories have appeared or are forthcoming in Arts and Letters, Natural Bridge, and Blithe House Quarterly Online, and have been anthologized in Best Lesbian Love Stories. Publishing houses in Holland, Spain, and Indonesia have purchased the foreign rights to The Priest's Madonna. She is also the author of Finding Katahdin: An Exploration of Maine's Past. She's taught English to middle school students, and writing and literature to undergraduates, and is currently on the faculty of the University of Nebraska's MFA in Writing Program. Mia Barron, a resident of New York City, has worked at theatres in New York and around the country including Playwrights Horizons, Lincoln Center, New York Theatre Workshop, NY Stage & Film, Wesport Playhouse, The Guthrie, The Huntington, Long Wharf, California Shakespeare Festival, New Jersey Shakespeare Festival, Berkshire Theatre Festival and The Acting Company, among others. Film and television work include "Guiding Light" and the soon to be released "Amy's Rules." She has an MFA from the Graduate Acting Program at NYU.