JACK KEROUAC IS DEAD TO ME by Gae Polisner

Relationships are proving difficult for JL Markham. Her father has been away on business for over a year. During his infrequent contacts, JL feels their former closeness slipping away. Her mother isn't handling his absence well. Typically plagued by depression, things have gotten even worse, and JL's grandmother is in denial about just how rocky things are getting. 

In the past JL relied on her best friend Aubrey for support and guidance, but when they started high school, Aubrey began hanging out with new friends who haven't welcomed JL into their circle. Now the only person JL can trust is Max Gordon. He's a senior and at nineteen he's older than 10th grade JL. Definitely seen as a "bad boy" by most, she prefers to keep their relationship on the downlow. That isn't hard with her father across the country and her mother out of it most of the time. Nana, having married young and remained a romantic, thinks Max is perfect.

Butterflies also give JL comfort. She is fascinated with them and with a little early birthday money from Nana, she has a setup for raising several tropical varieties. When she isn't at school, she spends most of her time in her room with Max and the butterflies. 

Loving Max is easy. Recently, he's been a bit more insistent that he wants to have sex. He knows just how to make JL feel good, but she wants to wait until she's sixteen. They have come close to completing the act, but JL manages to stop him, promising more soon. Max makes it known that upon graduation he plans to head to California on motorcycle, and he wants JL to come with him. As JL's other relationships crumble, she decides that she will join him and even help finance his plan.

JACK KEROUAC IS DEAD TO ME by Gae Polisner is an intense and emotional tale of a young girl's first love and her efforts to find stability in a chaotic family. JL is pulled in multiple directions by her need for connections and her thoughts that independence will free her from the pressure she feels at home. With her smooth style author Gae Polisner gently pulls readers into JL's life where they will at times reel with the sensual aspects and other times fume with the frustration that leaps off the pages.