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Being Fishkill

Ruth Lehrer - Author

Fishkill uses violence to intimidate other pupils and obtain food. A friendship with Duck-Duck and help from her mother create a possible alternative, while Fishkill’s mother’s return complicates that fragile arrangement.

More about this book

Born in the backseat of a moving car, Carmel Fishkill was unceremoniously pushed into a world that refuses to offer her security, stability, love. At age thirteen, she begins to fight back. Carmel Fishkill becomes Fishkill Carmel, who deflects her tormenters with a strong left hook and conceals her secrets from teachers and social workers. But Fishkill's fierce defenses falter when she meets eccentric optimist Duck-Duck Farina, and soon they, along with Duck-Duck's mother, Molly, form a tentative family, even as Fishkill struggles to understand her place in it. This fragile new beginning is threatened by the reappearance of Fishkill's unstable mother and by unfathomable tragedy.

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Book Analysis

At a Glance

Discover

FriendshipFamily supportGrief

Consider

Violence and harmGrief and lossSocial conflict

Personalised Fit

Beyond the Cover

friendshipfamily supportgriefabandonment

FictionNovel

Themes in Context

Care and ongoing distress

Duck-Duck and Molly offer Fishkill friendship and help, while her mother’s return complicates this tentative family connection. Fishkill’s guilt, anger and abandonment intensify.

How the book presents it: Care is presented as meaningful, but not as a quick answer to grief or abandonment; emotional difficulty continues alongside the possibility of support.

Talk about: If support does not make difficult feelings disappear, what might still make it matter?

Why It May Be Worth Reading

The story sets a tentative offer of care beside Fishkill’s continuing anger, guilt and feelings of abandonment. It does not present a new family connection as a simple or immediate resolution to her difficulties.

What Deserves Attention

Neglect and abuse are central to Fishkill’s early life; the story also includes her using violence against other pupils, bereavement, abandonment and strained family relationships.

A Conversation Worth Having

If someone offers help when trust is difficult, what might make accepting it feel complicated for Fishkill?

Reading Approach

Let the child set the pace, and pause if they want to talk about trust or asking for help.

Confidence & Basis

Theme indicators describe how the book presents a topic; they are not a verdict on the whole book or your family's values. Confidence reflects how much book-specific material was checked. Only part of the book information was available, so some details remain unconfirmed.

What remains unconfirmed

Care and ongoing distress: The eventual outcome for Fishkill and her relationships is unclear.

Being Fishkill by Ruth Lehrer | Open Library

Limited information

Checked: 1 October 2026.

Relevant to: Care and ongoing distress

BEING FISHKILL