About Making Faces
Like many adolescents, fourteen-year-old Matt Bowen has no idea who he is. Anxious for connection and friendship, he embarks on a series of illegal break-ins, searching for acceptance in a world he says he never asked to be a part of. Set in an English seaside bed and breakfast, Making Faces is a poignant and funny coming-of-age story about identity—in all its guises—and charts Matt Bowen’s adventures as he learns hard truths about family, friendship and forgiveness.
Reviews
"Matthew is a wonderful character: young but wise; long-suffering; a survivor. Bullock can be extremely funny (chapter 40), but he sees life in its complexity, so that things that are funny are often tinged with sadness, while serious matters often have an element of slapstick about them. Making Faces is a clear-headed book about characters who don’t want to reveal themselves, or who want very much to reveal themselves, but wonder where and how to begin.” - Ann Beattie, author of Follies: New Stories
“From the first page of Making Faces to the wonderful last line, John Bullock establishes himself as a deeply honest, brave and very funny writer. An entirely original debut.” - Laura Dave, author of The Divorce Party and London Is The Best City In America
"The voice that describes this marvelous seaside place and people (and the character who speaks this voice) is a fountain of delights and surprises that doesn’t stop dazzling until the last page.” - Robert Pope, author of Jack’s Universe
“John Bullock is a wonderful writer whose greatest gift is his honesty. He has a true skill for dialogue, as well as for the perfect little detail that makes or breaks a novel.” - Ron Riekki, author of U.P.