The Fifty-First State

by Lisa Borders

"A fresh new voice in fiction." -- Pat Conroy, author of  The Prince of TidesHallie and Josh Corson share a father but little else--until a grisly highway accident leaves them both without parents. Forced to leave her New York City life as an aspiring photographer and return to the rural southern New Jersey town where she and Josh grew up, Hallie soon finds herself managing not only her family's insolvent tomato farm, but also, Josh's transition to adulthood. Struggling to become both a parent and a sister, Hallie must help Josh navigate his final years of high school in the shadow of grief while coping with the escalating threat posed by a violent former employee of their father's. Amid a lush natural landscape where toxins have poisoned vulnerable wildlife, Josh draws on a newfound inner-strength to grapple with his own coming-of-age. He and Hallie grow in ways they never expected, and ultimately, they discover that even in death's wake lives can change for the better.Lisa Borders  is the author of  Cloud Cuckoo Land , winner of the Fred Bonnie Award for Best First Novel and fiction honors in the Massachusetts Book Awards.

Genres: Fiction, Family

330 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 23, 2013

About the author

Lisa Borders is the author of The Fifty-First State and Cloud Cuckoo Land, a 2003 Massachusetts Book Awards honoree. Her third novel, Last Night at the Disco, will be published in October 2025. She also writes short humor and is a frequent McSweeney's contributor. A New Jersey native, Lisa now lives in Central Massachusetts with her partner and two rescue cats.

Reviews

[Kathryn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reading this book is like falling into a densely imagined, completely real world--one that I left with regret. Hallie, a 30-something artist living in New York, is called back to her childhood hometown in rural, southern New Jersey after a family tragedy. As Hallie forms a bond with her teenage half-brother Josh, she comes to see the quiet, deep-rooted beauty in the threatened coastal landscape of her childhood, and comes to terms with old resentments and family secrets. While I identified with Hallie, I lost my heart to brilliant, grieving, generous Josh as he navigates his way through wrenching loss, first love, and his own coming of age as a writer.

The title "The Fifty-First State" refers to a short-lived South Jersey secession movement, but the novel is really about human resilience, the moments of unexpected joy and beauty that can take us from the darkest pain into a state of grace.

[Catherine Elcik · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lisa Border's tender heart is in every beautiful line of this lyrical novel. Careful to preserve the surprises in the narrative, I'll just say that The Fifty-First State follows 17-year-old Josh and his half-sister, 37-year-old Hallie through their unexpected year together following a devastating accident. The novel is a study in the triumph of humanity in the wake of tragedy. You'll laugh and you'll cry at the reminder that life is lived in the way we choose to balance our laughter and tears. When you finish reading, you'll hold the novel to your heart (don't we all do that with the books that move us or is it just me?), certain that this story sprang directly from the heart of the talented and warm-hearted Lisa Borders.

[Jack Ferris · Rating 5 out of 5]

There is a lot to like about this book - the subtle way it deals with class issues in New Jersey, the authenticity of its various settings and characters, the opening that sets up the the trajectory for its two protagonists - but I am going to focus on how well it captures the voice (and character) of a teenage boy who is too sophisticated and clever for his current circumstances.

About a third of the way through the book, Josh goes to a Halloween party thrown by his crush and things do not go well for him. Eventually, he finds himself wearing a makeshift costume, the old Charlie Brown standby, a sheet with holes cut in it for eyes. "You make a good ghost," his crush tells him with polite approval. The narration doesn't comment much further on this line; it doesn't have to. We know exactly what the words mean for Josh. It's one of the most powerful moments in the novel.

Josh should have almost everything going right for him. Despite the devastating loss that he's just experienced and the difficult financial situation it forces his family to face, everyone is looking out for his best interests. His principal understands his potential and wants to help him get scholarship money. His sister from New York has wealthy connections who are intrigued by his academic potential. His neighbors want to be father-figures. Intelligent, supportive, helpful young women are attracted to him. Everyone is looking out for him, but he's still fading away into the role he built for himself.

Despite how present he is in everyone's lives, his inability to express himself, to instead say all the right things to make sure that everybody leaves him alone, turns him invisible. The things that he aches for constantly disappoint him when he finally gets them. Each opportunity seems just another terrifying prospect to make him lose faith in the world.

I love his voice. I love how real it feels when, as he ponders suicide, it's how his dog would feel about it that finally brings the reality of what he's considering crashing down on him. I love how disastrous his sexual misadventures are. It is very, very difficult to write a depressed, often self-destructive teenage boy with sympathy, but Lisa Borders has done so.

He really, really does make a good ghost.

[Sandy Deden · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book grabs you from the very first lines and doesn't let go. I loved the well-formed characters, the great writing, and the rich details of an unfamiliar geography. A very truthful and illuminating story about grief, regrets, love, anger and finding your place in the world. Definitely a must-read!

[John Vanderslice · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the second novel from Lisa Borders, author of Cloud Cuckoo Land, from about ten years ago. At the heart of The Fifty-first State (south Jersey, if you didn't know) is the intriguing premise of a youngish woman (Hallie Corson) forced to take on the role of mother to her half-brother Josh (the product of her father's second marriage) after the boy's parents are killed in a car accident. While they are on passing good terms, the sad facts are that earier in her life Hallie deeply resented her father's second marriage and the son that came from it. And while that earlier resentment has mostly passed, she doesn't really know Josh at all, and he doesn't know her. There's the additional complication that he's a senior in high school and still very much in the adolescent stage of figuring out who he is, what he loves, where he wants to go to college, and what kind of girl he'd liked to become attached to. (Suffice to say that Josh makes some very dumb choices along the way.) Hallie, meanwhile, has all sorts of professional and personal issues, not the least of which is that she has no desire to settle--even temporarily--in south Jersey, a place she escaped from decades ago and couldn't imagine returning to now that she is comfortably ensconced in New York. If this sounds like a promising premise for a realistic novel, it is. And Borders handles her premise quite well, avoiding the narrative traps of too easy solutions and conveninent, predictable outcomes. Througout she remains determined to work against the reader's expectations and take the novel new direcitons just when you thought you had it figured out. There is so much more going on in the story than what I can encapsulate in this short summary. It''s loaded with friendships and conflicts of all sorts, and with a lot of painful baggage from the past that must be explored and understood before a new and better stasis is reached. There's also the really interesting subplot of local frogs that are mutating in decidely odd even frightening ways and which suggest something is deeply askew with the local ecoysystem. What starts as a minor detail--one apparently derived from real world occurrences--becomes more important as the book progresses, almost integral. Somehow Border is able to keep these dozens of narrative balls in the air without dropping any of them. You'll read this book and admire watching an experienced fiction writer at work.

[Patricia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow--best first line ever. The Fifty-First State opens with a bang. Borders captures the friendship between two estranged siblings in the face of their father's death, as well as a moving portrait of a small NJ town...all the while with NYC and all its possibilities glittering in the background.

I love stories of greater NY vis-a-vis the city itself, and The Fifty-First State was a real pleasure to read. Never thought I'd hear myself say these words, but...Go NJ!

[Traci · Rating 5 out of 5]

I got this book from Goodread First Reads. This is a novel that reads like it could be a true story. The storyline and characters are believeable and it pulls you in as you go along with Hallie and Josh as they mourn the loss of their father and Josh's mother in a tragic accident and learn to live together and love each other.

When Hallie Carson's father and his wife (Josh's mother) die in a tragic car accident, Hallie finds out she is left as Josh's guardian. Josh is a senior in high school and has to deal with the loss of his parents and deal with not being sure what his future will become, will Hallie dump him off on someone else, will she go back to New York or will she stay while he finishes his final year of school.

This book takes you on the journey with them and it causes the reader to become emotionally involved with the main characters, making it impossible to put the book down. I give it 5 out of 5 stars and recommend it to everyone who loves a good heartwarming novel.

[Maura · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hallie Corson left her name ("Holly") and family behind in Oyster Shell, New Jersey (in South Jersey) during her college days nearly twenty years ago. She is a photographer in New York who didn't "make it" quite as far as she hoped she would, and she is single. One call from her hometown changes Hallie's life utterly. Her father and stepmother are killed in a car accident, and her half-brother Josh (seventeen) is in need of a parent. The novel takes place during the course of Josh's senior year of high school, and the reader watches both of these compelling characters grow up and grow together into a family. Borders is a strong storyteller who tackles a story about death, grief, bereavement and new beginnings with such delicacy and beauty. She has particular strength in writing realistic scenes between characters, and in describing the natural beauty of South Jersey. This is an unforgettable and rich family saga which continues to reverberate long after the last word.

[Michelle Hoover · Rating 5 out of 5]

A novel that begins with a bang and settles achingly into the remnants of grief for those left behind--two near strangers who must learn how to knit a new kind of family together, all within a poisoned landscape in which even the smallest of creatures carry the mark of the past in their deformed limbs. The metaphor is pitch-perfect, the novel honest and plain-spoken, with a voice that bends itself without a hitch to the weight of its characters' sorrows and resilience.

[Traci · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lisa writes a novel that could be a true story! From a horrible tragedy that takes their parents, estranged half siblings find themselves learning to love each other and to live again. Hallie left South Jersey for New York and her old life behind, including her half brother Josh. A tragic accident takes the lives of their parents and Hallie finds herself back in South Jersey and the legal guardian of Josh while he finishes his final year of high school. Come along on the emotional ride with Hallie and Josh as they learn to live, love and grow.

I loved this book and I look forward to reading more from Lisa. I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a great story you can get lost in.

[Jessica Treadway · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved Lisa Borders' The Fifty-First State because of the depth of its characters, the author's command of their emotional relationships, and the authenticity not only of the dialogue, but of everything else on the page as well. The novel starts with a breathtaking tragedy, and I was hooked right away by the depiction of the characters affected by that event. It's a book that's not afraid to explore difficult feelings in a rich, nuanced, and poignant way that seems deceptively simple in the reading, but resonates after the end. I would definitely recommend this novel to anyone who appreciates reading a beautifully told and affecting family story.

[Rob · Rating 4 out of 5]

Talk about a find. I literally plucked this book off the shelf at the library without any suggestion, review or other influence. This is a non-typical story about half-siblings thrown together by the tragic death of their father and his wife and the changes to their lives that result. It's a tale that is far from formulaic and has you pulling for both of them to succeed.
The descriptions of the south Jersey farmland and ruined oyster towns are beautiful and contribute to the story's authenticity.

[Rhonda Cutler · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Fifty-first State is a warm-hearted, beautifully written, deeply nuanced book about a devastating loss and how this leads to a re-definition of who and what constitutes a family and a reassessment of what is truly important. Packed with emotional insights and wonderful details, this book provides the reader with a loving excursion across often forgotten and overshadowed southern New Jersey. Highly recommended for adults and for mature young adult readers.

[Patricia Geller · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a lovely, well-written coming of age story that takes place on the shores of sothern New Jersey, an areaa that is both unexplored in writing and in reality. Borders brings her charcters to life and as we follow a brother and estranged sister as they slowly work out a relationship after the death of their Dad and his Mother,. I read this book happily and while not earth-shattering, you come to care about them and cheer them on.

[Tara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Borders' talent lies in her great empathy for all walks of life, from human to animal to amphibian. This is a wonderful book full of love and life and tragedy. You'll laugh and cry and feel life is what it should be when reading Borders' careful, tender prose.

[Susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful. Just beautiful. Like many other readers, even though I wanted to see where it would go, I hated to finish it.

[Kate Racculia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thoughtful and complex, and most of all alive: I've been missing the characters ever since the last sentence, and wondering what happened next.

[Jennie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I picked up this book because of it's geography. I'm not sure if that's a thing other people do, but I definitely will try something I might not have otherwise read if the setting is somewhere I know well. I did it with the hermit book The Stranger in the Woods: The Extraordinary Story of the Last True Hermit, and I did it with this one. The thing is, Lisa Borders changed up the locations. FYI- if there's a Floyd, NJ I can't find the damn thing on any map. Also, Oyster Creek exists, but it's a power plant. And it's not in Cumberland County. BUT I do know Port Norris and Millville, and she does paint a very accurate picture of Cumberland County.

People don't really think rural when they think Jersey. But that doesn't mean it isn't accurate. Jersey, especially far south Jersey has some very rural and very poor pockets. It's actually quite odd how close the rural areas are to large urban centers. I have no idea how they haven't been super developed. In any case, it IS like a whole different world from the rest of the state and you can stumble into it completely by accident.

Anyway, geography aside, I found I did enjoy the book. She does a good job at tiptoeing right up to cliches and then stepping away from them. Spoilers incoming.

So, first of all, we have the salt of the earth dad who is stoic and unemotional. Except the time his first wife killed herself. Oh, and Hallie's mom killed herself, which I guess is technically a spoiler but if you didn't know that long before the character was willing to admit it then you're an idiot. And we have a sister who ran to the city to escape her rural roots, but who is completely willing to come back to help her brother. And we have teenagers who end up falling for each other, but it takes the ENTIRE book for that to happen, so it's not a cheesy as you'd think. Hallie and Ram fall for each other, but there's no happy ending, which, BTW Thank Fucking GOD because that shit would be ridiculous. So, all in all, it's not surprising but it's not a total damn cliche either. It was pleasant to read.

Except the sex. Dear lord, it felt a bit awkward. I've read sex scenes written by a male author who CLEARLY had no fucking idea how to write something from a woman's perspective. I strongly suspect that any man who reads this will have a full body cringe. It just didn't seem like anything an 18 year old male would ever think about losing his virginity. Maybe I'm way off base and dudes TOTALLY think about sex like that, but (Please insert yuck face here).

Takeaway: Nice to see south Jersey in a book. Book was mostly well done, the villain was sympathetic and more antagonist than villain, and the story was well done, if expected. Just don't expect to enjoy the sex scenes.

[Robert · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this.

I'm not exactly certain why. It wasn't the story I thought it was going to be. There was no huge conflict. I was thinking the Cal character was going to cause a lot havoc, but he was used much differently, which led to a self-realization story instead of drama. That's not usually my preferred story.

Perhaps it's because the setting is local and I knew the places referenced (even if some were re-named) and the surnames used for many of the characters. But I truly don't think that's it. I think it was the writing. The author had me caring for Josh and Hallie. I liked that there clutter in their lives. Yes, it all wrapped up neatly (maybe "too neatly"), but it read true to me.

A woman author did well describing a teenage boy, I felt. From his hard-ons to his confusion, to his cluelessness, Josh read well.

There were time jumps within chapters that I thought odd. We would be reading about something and the next thing we knew, it was another day a week later. It felt somewhat strange at times. Also, the formatting on the Kindle had a slightly different look to it. The font was a bit bolder and the kerning seemed to be tighter. It wasn't unpleasant, but different. I never adjust anything on the Kindle. All text looks the same, but this book had a different feel to it.

Enjoyed the book. I think the growth of Hallie was excellent. Her self-awareness and the coming to understand, to a point, what happened with her mother was well done. I like that we never learn the reasons for her mother running off and the "other thing". Because in real life, we don't always have those things answered for us.

Looking forward to discussing this later today with my book club.

[Raine · Rating 4 out of 5]

So I tagged this book "Philadelphia" because while a small part does take place in Philadelphia, most of the book takes place in rural south jersey, which is where I have lived for a few years. I still live in the area, and I love seeing places in a book where I know the exact location.

Anyway, the story revolves around Josh, a teenage boy who loses his parents in an accident. His estranged older sister from another mother moves back from New York city to help him through his loss and to take care of him. The reader gets to see how both characters deal with the major changes in their lives.

[Jennifer Spiegel]

Is Lisa on goodreads? I sneak quietly to my laptop and admit that this has been on my TBR pile since that AWP in 2013 in Boston(?). Not for any profound reason of rejection--just because it was there, quietly, patiently.

But I was reminded to READ IT NOW because I know she has a new one coming out, and I had to get on board so I can pre-order it.

I loved her New York love, her dog love, her Death Cab for Cutie references, the way her protagonist writes lines in his emerging novel and has those true moments in which he thinks he wrote the best thing ever--even if it all fades away the next time he reads it.

[Laura Eppinger · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book had me under a spell and I read it in one 5.5 hour sitting!

Loved seeing South Jersey explored by these characters, and seeing characters who are so devoted to community.

Made me want to drive through the Pine Barrens listening to Death Cab for Cutie with my high school friends.

[Craig · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book grabs you in the first few pages - and the characters hold onto you until the end.

[John · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was intrigued by the "Fifty-First State" concept, and enjoyed reading it

[Margo Littell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Seventeen-year-old Josh Corson is plodding through a regular day at school when his father and mother are killed in a car crash, changing his life forever. Suddenly an orphan, Josh finds himself leaning into an unlikely caregiver: his half-sister Hallie, who, years ago, traded their family’s farm in southern New Jersey for a glamorous life in New York City and never looked back. Together again in their childhood home, with the farm going to ruins around them, Josh and Hallie must learn to be a family--and Hallie must face a devastating truth she can no longer escape. Meanwhile, Josh meets three young women who offer tantalizing respite from his grieving but bring their own complexities to Josh’s already uncertain path.

Borders has created an intimate portrait of a patched-together family reeling from losses both past and present, searching for footing in an evocative South Jersey landscape that is as beautiful as it is quietly toxic. Hallie's emotional awakening and Josh's touching coming-of-age are deftly handled and make this a compelling addition to Engine Books's accomplished list.

*Review originally written for the San Francisco Book Review. I received this book in exchange for an honest review.

[Raquel · Rating 4 out of 5]

A believable and deeply empathetic tale about how a family survives in the wake of huge loss. The chapters alternate between Hallie's and Josh's points of view. I found that Josh was a hugely believable and sympathetic character--his feelings, thoughts, and reactions are all accurate to being seventeen and a senior in high school. I never quite felt like I got to know Hallie as intimately as I did Josh, but part of that could be because there is something emotionally reticent about her as a character. I did see her change in subtle ways as she came to accept her role as Josh's caretaker and the loss of her life in NYC.

I found myself wishing this book were a bit longer only because certain sections felt a bit rushed and like they could have been further expanded and unpacked for more emotional impact. Hallie's romantic relationship, for instance, felt rushed and underdeveloped. But I loved the setting of a small town in South Jersey and I enjoyed the secondary characters, many of whom are only minimally involved in the plot but none of whom felt flat. I almost want to see a sequel because I want to know what happened to the characters after the book ends--this book feels like only the beginning of their story.

[Terry · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was poorly developed. The plot was all over the place and little was resolved.

Since it was set in South Jersey with the intention to contrast it to North Jersey, I at least expected to enjoy that aspect. But, I did not. First, the comparison was made to NY instead of North Jersey - and that comparison was poorly made. Also, the author's description of South Jersey did not describe the SJ that I know, and I have lived here my whole life. And... Hammonton is known for blueberries, not cranberries!! Very disappointing!

I gave it two stars because it did keep me reading and I wasn't hating it while doing so. Also, I think the author did a fair job with development of the sister/brother relationship.

[Debra Leigh Scott · Rating 5 out of 5]

I reviewed Lisa Borders' novel when it was published, and said, "Lisa Borders, in her second novel, The Fifty-First State, explores issues of tragedy and loss through the lives of two estranged siblings.

After spending years in an attempt to remake herself, older sibling Hallie Corson, a semi-successful NYC photographer, finds herself pulled back into the life she escaped by a sudden family tragedy. "

The entire review can be read at The New York Journal of Books at my page: http://www.nyjournalofbooks.com/book-...

[Karen Wilk · Rating 5 out of 5]

warm, fully formed characters you root for as they navigate the brutal twist life has thrown them. worth a second read, just to enjoy the prose since I raced through the first time anxious to learn the fate of Hallie and Josh.

[Alycia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book about really south South Jersey!
I'm not sure why she called it Rowan College as it has been an university for a long time now but other than that, this is pretty spot on. The story is good too. I love when female authors can capture teenage boys so well.