This fall, the film festival circuit will be introduced to the
indomitable Luli McMullen in Hick, the new film made from the
acclaimed novel by Andrea Portes, who also adapted the screenplay. The
film - directed by Derick Martini - stars Chloe Grace Moretz, Blake
Lively and Eddie Redmayne and features Rory Culkin, Anson Mount,
Juliette Lewis and Alec Baldwin in supporting roles.
Hick is the story of Luli (Moretz), a bright kid from a hick town
who's had enough and strikes out on her own with some "borrowed" cash, a
.45 and her wits. On the road, Luli is taken under the wing of a
glamorous young grifter named Glenda (Lively), who has experienced
worlds barely imaginable to Luli. As the two make their way across the
American landscape, they encounter a captivating and dangerous young man
named Eddie Kreezer (Redmayne), a disturbing criminal subculture, and
some hard truths about what it means to be a young woman on the run,
grasping at a future.
Though its first-person narrating voice is fast-paced, powerful and
unquestionably authentic, Hick is a debut novel.
Beyond this voice, what makes the book so extraordinary is that,
although all of the worst things imaginable do befall this 13-year-old
girl, she is never defeated by them. Luli always fights back; she always
resurfaces. Set as a coming-of-age novel, Hick tracks the real perils
that modern teenagers so often face. And it does so with bright wit,
energy, and an indomitable spirit.
This is an audiobook that will grab the reader from the first page and
not let go.
And it is written by a woman who is becoming a cultural force in the
hippest parts of Los Angeles.
