A Tiny Upward Shove

“A Tiny Upward Shove is gloriously voiced, the kind of addictive and headlong novel that makes reading into a wild bronco ride. Melissa Chadburn has it, the spark; her first novel is strange and tender and not to be missed.”

Lauren Groff, New York Times bestselling author

“Every line carries music, emotional weight, philosophical insight, and punk rock glory.”

Amber Dermont, New York Times bestselling author

“A novel that grabs your attention and won’t let it go—fueled by a wild, jagged energy and an exuberant mixing of cultures and a narrator whose frank, poignant voice will keep echoing in your head.”

Sarah Shun-Lien Bynum, author of Likes

“In its verve, vibrancy, and sheer reckless energy, Chadburn’s writing recalls a number of wonders: Ondaatje’s Running in the Family, say, or Kincaid’s At the Bottom of the River. Chadburn’s vision, however, her intelligence and empathy, are entirely her own.”

Matthew Specktor, author of American Dream Machine

“An engrossingly raw but tenderly vulnerable voice. Chadburn brings to vivid life a character stained by cruelty, but who has the last word.”

Lisa Ling, coauthor of Somewhere Inside

“A fiercely original, brave writer. Chadburn finds the lyrical and the deeply human in seemingly dark and impenetrable landscapes.”

Héctor Tobar, New York Times bestselling author

“A writer who can make the language sing and bleed.”

Steve Almond, New York Times bestselling author

“A mesmerizing work in which beauty and ugliness and realism and mythology coexist. Chadburn is an emerging literary force.”

Jaquira Díaz, author of Ordinary Girls

“Gorgeous, wrecking. I could not look away. Her telling held me captive and reminded me that art is its own kind of mercy.”

Melissa Febos, author of Girlhood

“A knife pressed to the throat of secrecy. There is no other debut novelist whose work I’m more excited to share with everyone in the world.”

Kyle Minor, author of Praying Drunk

“An astonishing story about what makes us human and bound to each other. More books should be written like this: fiercely, without apology, and with devastating honesty.”

Dana Johnson, author of Elsewhere, California

“An extraordinary book with surprising turns and fierce momentum. This book is alive, and you can feel its heart beating; when you read its pages, I promise you will feel its life rush through you.”

Jennifer Percy, author of Demon Camp