Ivy vs. Dogg: With A Cast Of Thousands!
Populated by a town full of quirky, yet recognizable citizens, and told through the voice of "the committee," Ivy vs Dogg: With a Cast of Thousands is a humorous and pointed account of a small town acting out both good and dubious intentions that hurdle the town to the point of breaking.
Teenage Ivy Simmons has a longstanding rivalry with Jimmy, "Dogg," Doggins, high school tennis star, and hometown hero. Ivy lives in the "Pink Ghetto," a low income stucco apartment complex that has haunted her every effort to best Dogg. Their years of sparring comes to a head when the town of Mudlick's annual Jr. Mr. Mayor election is announced and Ivy becomes the first female ever to run. Mudlick's busybody leaders, known as "the committee," do not approve, especially when Ivy reveals an embarassing secret. "The committee," as it has since the town founding, inserts itself into all matters both personal and public, and they feel no compunction about ruining Ivy's candidacy on the grounds of the shame she's likely to bring to Mudlick. Despite a hesitancy on Dogg's part to compete against his childhood rival, the pair engage campaign events that escalate in absurdity. Between a gruesome topiary display set up by the town's most prominent (and reclusive) matriarch and the election, emotions run high, squeezing Ivy and Dogg from all sides and forcing them to make the most adult decision of their lives.
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"Like Tom Perrotta's Election except told by a "committee" of over-invested small-town biddies, Brian Leung's sharp-eyed novel is satire of suburban politics and helicopter parenting, lampooning the rules we follow to keep people in their place. As two fiesty, tender-hearted teenagers compete for the title of "Junior Mr. Mayor" -- and defy everyone's expectations, including your own -- their delightfully star-crossed campaigns reveal to us the fault lines in community and the courage it takes to be both candidate and human being."
-Austin Bunn, author of The Brink and the film Kill Your Darlings
"Leung invents, in Mudlick, an American small town that is weird all over, yet filled with characters both human and humane. The absurd collides with the quotidian. And a fabulous chaos ensues. We couldn't ask for a better tour guide here. Just watch out for the giant squid."
-Adam McOmber, author of My House Gathers Desires, The White Forest and This New & Poisonous Air
"Ivy vs. Dogg roasts American sanctimony on a spit. Through The Committee in the town of Mudlick, Brian Leung turns a hilarious, satirical eye at the confluence of who we truly are and how we wish to be seen. When two young people challenge the nostalgic delirium that the town is under, each character is left to face new truths that are at the same time comical and tragic, political and deeply personal. This novel brings essential news about the conflicted, misguided, well-meaning heart of America, and right when we need it most."
-Teres Mailhot, author of Heart Berries
