Split (novel)

Split
First edition cover
AuthorSwati Avasthi
PublisherKnopf
Publication date
March 9, 2010
ISBN978-0-375-86340-0

Split is the debut novel of Swati Avasthi, an Indian American writer and teacher.[1][2][3][4] This young adult fiction book was written in 2008 funded by a grant from the University of Minnesota where Avashi had studied. The manuscript underwent eight revisions and was finally published, after an auction, by Knopf in 2010. The book has received a plethora of awards such as the 2011 International Reading Association Award, the 2011 Cybils award, a 2010 Silver Parent's Choice Award, and the New Mexico State Book Award.[1][5] It has received mostly positive reviews. The book has also received eleven nominations for state awards and it has been published in four languages.

The story was inspired by Avasthi's experiences while working at a domestic abuse law clinic. Avasthi was inspired by an encounter with a mother and her two young children, a boy and a girl, who went through a traumatic and abusive experience.[5] The book is written in the present tense and narrates the experience of a teenage boy, whose father physically abused the boy's mother. As he grew up the boy would later abuse another young woman.[5][6]

  1. ^ a b "New Low-Residency MFA in Writing for Children & Young Adults Faculty". hamline.edu.[dead link]
  2. ^ "Split". Kirkus Reviews. March 1, 2010. Retrieved October 14, 2024.
  3. ^ "Split". Booklist. January 1, 2010. Retrieved October 14, 2024.
  4. ^ "Split by Swati Avasthi". Publishers Weekly. January 25, 2010. Retrieved October 15, 2024.
  5. ^ a b c Muhlenkamp, Katherine E. "Alumna Swati Avasthi's work at a domestic violence clinic inspired her hard-hitting young adult novel". University of Chicago.
  6. ^ Lucy Schall (May 1, 2013). Teen Talkback with Interactive Booktalks!. ABC-CLIO. pp. 21–. ISBN 978-1-61069-290-8.