Buckhanon, K. (2005). Upstate. New York, NY. St. Martin’s Press. 0312332688; Hardback; $19.95 (also available in audio book, paperback, and e-book)
“Dear Natasha, Baby the first thing I need to know from you is do you believe I killed my father? I need to know if you believe what everybody saying about me because I need to know if you got my back.” (p2). “Dear Antonio, What happened? Did you kill him? Did you really do it?” (p5). When Antonio gets arrested, tried, and convicted for his father’s murder, he and his girlfriend Natasha promise to stay together and keep in touch through writing letters back and forth for the duration of his 10 year sentence. Antonio struggles to hold on to who he really is while locked up but Natasha struggles to let go of who she used to be on the outside as they grow together and apart through their letters. Once Natasha makes up her mind about leaving Antonio to go live her life, Antonio struggles with wondering if the whole world is leaving him behind and if he and Natasha could ever find a way to be together again.
This book won the Terry McMillan Young Author Award as well as an American Library Association ALEX Award, Audie award for Literary Fiction, and Hurston-Wright Foundation Debut Fiction nomination.
This would be a great book for anyone dealing with a tough relationship or with friends or family in prison.
You can check out the book (and author's) website: http://www.kalisha.com/books/upstate/
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