No Fences in Alaska
GENRE
DRAMA FAMILY YOUNG ADULT ADVENTURE
Core Theme
REGRET, FORGIVENESS, AND FAITH AS AN UNUSUAL BOND DEVELOPS
TIME PERIOD
Contemporary
COMPARABLE TITLES
THIRTEEN, STILL ALICE, WILD
CHARACTER LIST
• HARPER LYONS: 16. LEAD. OUTSPOKEN, REBELLIOUS, AND INTELLIGENT.
• COOPER LYONS: 65. LEAD. HARPER’S GRANDFATHER. ENGAGING, FAITHFUL, STRONG MORAL CODE.
• GABRIEL LIGHT: 18. HARPER’S LOVE INTEREST.
• ZACHARY: 21. HARPER’S EX. GETS HER PREGNANT AND THREATENS HER.
Logline
A troubled teen flees to her Grandpa in Alaska to start a new life even as his fades.
Target Audiences
Age: 13-17
Target Gender: Female leaning
Setting
San Antonio, Tx & the interior of Alaska
Based on a True Story
No
Publishing Details
Status: Yes: with a Publisher
Publisher: Black Rose Writing
Year Published: 2019
Starting Description
Sixteen-year-old Harper Lyons needs to escape her parents and decide what to do about her unwanted pregnancy. Cooper Lyons, her estranged grandfather, lives alone in rural Alaska. He has just been diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer’s, and he doesn’t plan on letting the disease run its course.
Ending Description
Cooper helps Harper find her passion in life. They complete this novel together. Harper's family is reunited; she marries and gives birth to her child after surviving an attempted murder by the child's biological father. Cooper commits suicide when his disease worsens.
Group Specific
Information not completed
Hard Copy Available
No
ISBN
Information not completed
Mature Audience Themes
Substance Abuse, Sexual Abuse, Language/Profanity
Plot - Other Elements
Coming of Age, Meaningful Message, Philosophical Questions
Plot - Premise
Internal Journey/Rebirth
Main Character Details
Name: Harper Lyons
Age: 16
Gender: Female
Role: Protagonist
Key Traits: Engaging, Sexy, Outspoken, Perseverance, Aggressive, Manipulative, Blunt, Complex, Empathetic, Secretive, Beautiful, Desperate
Additional Character Details
Name: Cooper Lyons
Age: 65
Gender: Male
Role: Mentor
Key Traits: Gracious, Perseverance, Adventurous, Empathetic, Engaging, Faithful, Honorable, Heroic, Outspoken, Selfless, Complex, Strong Moral Code
Additional Character Details
Name: Gabriel Light
Age: 18
Gender: Male
Role: Sidekick
Key Traits: Faithful, Perseverance, Aspiring, Charming, Empathetic, Engaging, Strong Moral Code, Heartthrob, Modest, Romantic, Selfless
Additional Character Details
Name: Zachary
Age: 21
Gender: Male
Role: Antagonist
Key Traits: Narcissistic, Seductive, Unapologetic, Villainous, Charming, Criminal, Heartthrob
Brief
When troubled teen Harper Lyons discovers she’s pregnant, she flees to Alaska to stay with her
estranged grandpa, Cooper, and away from her rigid parents and cruel ex-boyfriend. Cooper
welcomes the opportunity for a second chance to connect with family, as he lives with the regret
of his own daughter’s death from drug use and copes with early onset Alzheimer’s.
What We Liked
- Strong dual protagonist narrative;
- Unconventional buddies – a teen and an old man;
- Flashbacks that present a myriad of characters and potential storylines;
- Narrative about complex family issues that centers on themes that many can relate to;
- Important message about life being worth living;
- Impactful end that brings in a concept rarely shown on screen, death with dignity, as
Cooper takes his own life rather than letting Alzheimer’s completely deteriorate him;
- Alaskan setting provides ample opportunity for outstanding cinematography;
- Positive spin on faith.
Synopsis
Harper, a teenager angry and unhappy in her family’s restrictive Christian household, parties,
steals from her parents, and does drugs. Her boyfriend, Zachary, deals drugs and uses her for
sex. Harper gets pregnant and realizes he doesn’t care about her. Unsure of how her father, the
head of a Christian private school, will react, Harper forces her parents to buy her a ticket to go
stay with her grandpa, Cooper, in Alaska. In Alaska, she won’t need parental consent for an
abortion.
Harper and Cooper reconnect, both living with regrets and needing each other’s love to heal. At
the same time, they hide secrets from each other that they’re afraid would be too much for each
other to handle. However, Cooper can’t hide that he has early onset Alzheimer’s. Harper
promises to help him.
Cooper helps Harper re-discover her love of singing. As Harper thrives in Alaska, Zachary
continues to wreak havoc on her life from afar, trying to force her to terminate the pregnancy.
Harper slowly stops using drugs, and after meeting handsome Gabriel, an EMT, she is convinced
to keep her baby.
With Cooper’s love and support, Harper reveals her pregnancy to her family. Harper is
instrumental in reuniting Cooper with his ex-wife, Rachel. Greg, Harper’s father, comes to see the
error of his ways with his children. In the end, the entire family reconciles and lives in Alaska.
Cooper continues to deteriorate and gives all he can to Harper. He takes his own life, the way he
wanted to go, before his mind is gone. Harper finds love with Gabriel, marries him, and they
name Harper’s baby boy Cooper.