Working Parts — Lucy Jane Bledsoe

Praise for "Working Parts"

"To witness this wonderfully original character find renewal in a previously alien landscape makes for a liberating and joyous excursion in reading."--"San Francisco Chronicle"

"Bledsoe's funny and sad, moving and thoughtful, smoothly written and eminently enjoyable first novel may prove to be her breakthrough."--"Booklist"

""Working Parts "is fresh, engaging, witty, and deft."--Felice Picano

Lori is an ace bicycle mechanic. She's smart and she can fix anything. She's also an expert at concealing the fact that she can't read. Her fellow mechanic Mickey has his own secret; he's a virgin. The two best friends strike a deal; Lori will learn to read and Mickey will learn to kiss. Unprepared for the emotional toll their pact brings, the friends struggle with changing their lives and with each other. "Working Parts "is a novel that explores the meaning of friendship and illuminates the dark places where our greatest fears lurk.

Lucy Jane Bledsoe is the author of four novels, a collection of short fiction, a collection of narrative nonfiction, and six books for kids. Lucy has traveled to Antarctica three times, twice as a recipient of the National Science Foundation's Artists and Writers in Antarctica Fellowship. She is the recipient of the 2009 Sherwood Anderson Prize for Fiction, the 2009 Arts & Letters Fiction Prize, as well as a California Arts Council Fellowship, a PEN Syndicated Fiction Award, and an American Library Association Stonewall Award.