Bright Days, Stupid Nights

by Norma Fox Mazer, Harry Mazer

Landing a prestigious summer internship on a  Pulitzer Prizewinning newspaper seems ideal for Chris,  who's glad to be taken seriously as a writer and  to get away from his blue-collar father's  expectations.



For Vicki, it's a chance to  grow up, shine in the big time, and maybe even get  a scholarship so she won't end up stuck in a  dead-end job like her mother.



For  Elizabeth, it means time to distance herself from the  suffocating relationship she has with her  boyfriend.



For Faith, it's a way to  forget the past and try to be just a normal  teenager.



Weeks of work and play wear on their   What do they expect of each other?  What do they expect of themselves?

Genres: Young Adult, Fiction

194 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1991

About the author

Norma Fox Mazer was an American author and teacher, best known for her books for children and young adults.

She was born in New York City but grew up in Glens Falls, New York, with parents Michael and Jean Garlan Fox. Mazer graduated from Glens Falls High School, then went to Antioch College, where she met Harry Mazer, whom she married in 1950; they have four children, one of whom, Anne Mazer, is also a writer. She also studied at Syracuse University.

New York Times Book Review contributor Ruth I. Gordon wrote that Mazer "has the skill to reveal the human qualities in both ordinary and extraordinary situations as young people mature....it would be a shame to limit their reading to young people, since they can show an adult reader much about the sometimes painful rite of adolescent passage into adulthood."

Among the honors Mazer earned for her writing were a National Book Award nomination in 1973, an American Library Association Notable Book citation in 1976, inclusion on the New York Times Outstanding Books of the Year list in 1976, the Lewis Carroll Shelf Award in 1978, an Edgar Award in 1982, German Children's Literature prizes in 1982 and 1989, and a Newbery Medal in 1988.

Mazer taught in the Master of Fine Arts in Writing for Children & Young Adults Program at Vermont College.

For more information, please see http://www.answers.com/topic/norma-fo...

Reviews

[Shaneeza aziz · Rating 4 out of 5]

This took a turn I wasn’t expecting and I liked it.

[Sandy Wang · Rating 3 out of 5]

There are very few teenagers who know what they want to do in the future. Instead of pursuing their dreams, they get attached to problems that involves with love and friendship. Bright Days, Stupid Nights is a perfect example of 4 teenagers who deals with love and friendship. The protagonist falls in love with her intern friend and she can't decide between her career or her friends. Teenagers will find themselves caught up in this novel because of the connections they'll be able to make with it. Bright Days, Stupid Nights is a fabulous novel because friendship really stands out as a theme, the author really shows how each characters has a dream to pursue and there is a really surprising conflict.
One reason why Brights Days, Stupid Nights is a fabulous novel is because throughout the book, the protagonist, Vicki and her 3 friends, Chris, Elizabeth, and Faith showed many signs of friendship. They showed it through communication and actions. For example, “Don't write the story. None of us wants you to do this. It isn't important. Your friendship with Faith is much more important” (pg 134). This moment of the book is when Chris was telling Vicki that Faith is more important than the story she's writing about her. If Vicki writes the story about Faith, she will lose Faith forever because Faith does not want Vicki to write about her. We can all see that Chris is being a friend by warning Vicki about the consequences if she does write the story about Faith.
The way the author showed how each character tries their best to pursue their dreams is also how the novel is fabulous. It is obvious that Faith took up the job as a newspaper intern is because she loves taking pictures. This is shown in the book when “She picked up her camera. My dream is to take pictures. It's what I see through the camera that matters” (pg 126). It is straightforward that Faith loves taking pictures because when she look through the camera, she suddenly feel like everything matters. It shows that everyone can have a dream to pursue at a young age and make it come true.

Lastly, an aspect of a fabulous novel is having a surprising big conflict. In Bright Days, Stupid Nights, the conflict was unexpected because the novel was “going” calm at first. Then suddenly, there's an action that makes you think of the book in a different way. “They were doing it, all of them together, pushing her into the truck, slamming the door” (pg 149). In this moment, Chris, Elizabeth, and Faith “kidnapped” Vicki and locked her in a truck. This surprised me because Chris, Elizabeth and Faith was always the calm type and it was very unexpected that they'll kidnap a friend to try to resolve the issue they have with each other. This shows that you can't judge anyone by the way they act and their outside appearance.
Even though, this book is not the best comparing to other books, it is clear that the novel is trying to tell readers that friendship is very important. It is not right to betray your friends for something you can work for instead. Although, Vicki made a mistake, she corrected it and her friends forgave her. It's part of growing up; forgive and forget. Bright Days, Stupid Nights is worth the time to read because you'll notice that you can relate to the characters in many ways. It gives me the feeling that you're not alone and there are many other people dealing with the same issues as you.

[Kree]

I loved the mixed of drama and journalism! I enjoyed how well written the book was and would recommend it to any journalism fan or ordinary reader!