{"id":1705,"date":"2016-04-28T15:40:40","date_gmt":"2016-04-28T15:40:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/human-development\/?p=1705"},"modified":"2019-01-10T16:28:18","modified_gmt":"2019-01-10T21:28:18","slug":"strong-sales-spur-wider-release-of-uri-juniors-novel-tackling-sexual-assault-drug-use-mental-health","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/human-development\/2016\/04\/28\/strong-sales-spur-wider-release-of-uri-juniors-novel-tackling-sexual-assault-drug-use-mental-health\/","title":{"rendered":"Strong sales spur wider release of URI junior\u2019s novel tackling sexual assault, drug use, mental health"},"content":{"rendered":"

Media Contact: Brian Pernicone<\/a>, 401-874-7245<\/p>\n

Publishing company releases paperback edition of Barren<\/b><\/p>\n

\"\"KINGSTON, R.I. \u2013 April 26, 2016 \u2014 University of Rhode Island junior Elizabeth Miceli wasn\u2019t sure what to expect when her first novel, Barren, was released in October. She wondered if readers would connect with the book despite \u2014 or perhaps because of \u2014 its heavy themes regarding sexuality and sexual assault, drug use and mental health issues.<\/p>\n

The results are in: Readers have connected with the book and her publisher, Swoon Romance, released the book in paperback on February 27.<\/p>\n

The paperback edition of Barren debuted as the top new release in the Teen & Young Adult category on Amazon.com and No. 6 in the category overall. The electronic edition reached the top 10,000 in e-book sales on Amazon out of approximately 3 million titles available on the shopping site. Eighteen reader reviews have been posted, all rating the book five stars. The book is also available at BarnesandNoble.com.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am absolutely over the moon about this,\u201d she said. \u201cThe reviews readers have left me showed me that my character Stacey comes across as real and relatable, and that\u2019s all I could have hoped for when I created her.\u201d<\/p>\n

Barren tells the story of Stacey Lorenzo, a 17-year-old with poor self-esteem and an eating disorder. Stacey turns to partying \u2013 binge drinking, drugs, cutting and engaging in risky sexual activity \u2013 in an attempt to find herself.<\/p>\n

\u201cI always thought people my age would connect with it, but I wasn\u2019t sure how it would play to older readers because it\u2019s a raw look at what teenage girls go through today,\u201d she said. \u201cBut an 80-year-old woman read and loved the book, which I think says a lot about how Stacey\u2019s struggles are more than a product of her time. Even if readers can\u2019t identify with Stacey\u2019s experiences, many people \u2014 from millenials to baby boomers \u2014 can relate to her emotions and insecurities.\u201d<\/p>\n

Upon the book\u2019s release, and Miceli\u2019s subsequent promotional efforts \u2013 including a blog tour and speaking engagements \u2013 she has continued to relate to her readers.<\/p>\n

Miceli was asked to speak to physical education classes at her former high school in North Kingstown, and it gave her a chance to shed some light on these issues for students who might otherwise not have had a place to turn.<\/p>\n

\u201cI asked them to fill out comment cards with any questions they might have, and they didn\u2019t have to sign them. There were students who said they were struggling with their weight, with eating disorders, with sexual assault, asking \u2018What do I do?\u2019\u201d she said. \u201cThese are things that are happening in our schools and, yet, nobody wants to talk about them. As I read one card, I knew this girl was struggling, but she wasn\u2019t the only person in that audience who was having a difficult time, so I really tried to let them know they\u2019re not alone.\u201d<\/p>\n

She will speak at URI\u2019s \u201cTake Back The Night\u201d event April 28 at Chafee Hall on the Kingston Campus.<\/p>\n

Barren\u2019s sequel, Consumed, is slated to be released in paperback and electronic editions on July 10.<\/p>\n

Pictured Above:
\nStrong sales of the novel Barren, written by University of Rhode Island junior Elizabeth Miceli, has led her publisher to release the book in paperback and the sequel, Consumed, will be published in paperback and electronic editions on July 10.<\/p>\n

Photo courtesy of Elizabeth Miceli<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Media Contact: Brian Pernicone, 401-874-7245 Publishing company releases paperback edition of Barren KINGSTON, R.I. \u2013 April 26, 2016 \u2014 University of Rhode Island junior Elizabeth Miceli wasn\u2019t sure what to expect when her first novel, Barren, was released in October. She wondered if readers would connect with the book despite \u2014 or perhaps because of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":942,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1705","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/human-development\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1705","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/human-development\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/human-development\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/human-development\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/942"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/human-development\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1705"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/human-development\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1705\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4558,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/human-development\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1705\/revisions\/4558"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/human-development\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1705"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/human-development\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1705"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/human-development\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1705"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}