2009 BEST ADULT/YOUNG ADULT FICTION GOLD WINNER - Mom's Choice Awards “What you don't know won't hurt you is a lie... Fiction, as C.S. Lewis would say, adds to reality, not just describes it. It enriches daily life and irrigates the deserts of our lives. Jodee Kulp is so adept at casting the players in The Whitest Wall and so passionate a story teller you will look at your neighbor through different eyes than ever before.” — Mac McConnell, author, Forever Changed, Bozra “An inside view of FASD I am overcome with the manner in which Jodee was able to thread together racism, poverty, abuse, fetal alcohol, depression, and post traumatic stress disorder with smoothness that did not confuse the reader.” — Ruth A. Rice, FASD Program Director, White Earth “This is a must read book for everyone as it's a topic that has been in the closet for too long. Jodee's book will open everyone's eyes that FASD is a very serious issue that we all need to become better educated about as well as develop services for those impacted by it. I can't wait for Book 2.” — Glenys DiLissio Executive Director , FASD Program       What if a serial killer lived in your neighborhood and no one noticed? A grizzly murder in a small Midwestern town triggers a chain of events of hidden pasts and misconceptions. A young transient is arrested for a crime obvious to some he did not commit, while those in positions of power miss the signs. Hopefully the Bootleg Brothers Trilogy will provide compassion for persons affected by FASD and support for healthy future pregnancies.       The Trilogy has been designed to build FASD awareness at a general public level by placing realistic characters with lives and voices in an understandable context.     The first book The Whitest Wall (September 2008) is a journey of young adult male with FASD, the second book, Tiger Butterfly (September 2009) is the journey of a young adult female with FASD and the final book Different Beats (September 2010) is the journey of a professionally skilled family (psychologist and child development specialist) struggling to raise a baby born with FASD.             Excerpt LET'S BEGIN . . . He screamed projecting full power. This was different. The whiteness had no escape. Emerald green terror filled his gaze darting from floor to bed, wall to ceiling. His eyes saw nothing though he knew he was not blind. He had been here before. His demon – the whitest wall – had returned for a face-off. He screamed powerfully to escape. The door, locked for safe-keeping, imprisoned the whiteness. Isolated. He shrieked hoping to unlock his sleep. Abandoned. His father was lost, his dog dead. He burst through the whitest wall into the light. “Yes! Light!” “But, the whiteness stays?” “Alone.” There was one difference. . . . HIS SLEEVES WERE ORANGE! FROM THE AUTHOR Some people spend a lifetime sidestepping the beauty of individuality and difference. Others wrap their arms around diversity and intimately embrace the sensitivity of spirit. The sounds and characteristics of a culture, of a person and of a community are not a singular voice. Solidarity builds through the tapestry of individuality and difference. It is a process built through struggle, birthed in pain, tendered with care, and acknowledged with shouts of deference. In the element of light, white is the addition of all colors. In the element of pigment, black is the element of all colors. In a multidimensional world the variations of additive and subtractive make us whole and our indifference grows when we cannot see.To break through the whitest wall, the screams of each character are heard and invisibilities shared. We can no longer whisper.

Professional Reviews
What you don't know won't hurt you is a lie.
A big lie. Knowledge is still power, and the power found in these pages is undeniable. When Jodee Kulp began to explain to the insidiousness of Fetal Alcohol Syndrome I did not get it. I could not sympathize. It was too much like an out of control virus that was taking over the world. But when I began reading the life stories of the characters in this book I became educated vicariously, even without knowing it. The strength of story could not be better illustrated than within these pages. Full, rich, deep personalities walk through your imagination as close as your own family as this epic-like volume clings to your heart.

You will want to pick up the phone and call each one to say, "I'm right here, and I understand, or watch out." The identity of these characters becomes so personal you just know you are reading their memoirs.

Fiction, as C.S. Lewis would say, adds to reality, not just describes it. It enriches daily life and irrigates the deserts of our lives. I found "Whitest Wall" so compelling I wanted to jump to the end, but so glad I didn't.

Life is complex and lives are intertwined to a greater degree than we think. We tend to be myopic, critical, judgmental, and basically self-absorbed, or is that just me? Jodee Kulp is so adept at casting the players in Whitest Wall and so passionate a story teller you will look at your neighbor through different eyes than ever before. I believe there are many books in the book, I trust at least there are many more books coming from Jodee.
Mac McConnell, author, "Forever Changed", "Bozra"

An inside view of FASD
The White Wall by Jodee Kulp is a story of a young man suffering with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome and the life challenges he faces on a daily basis. The disability is one that crosses many barriers such as race and socioeconomic status. This novel gets to the heart of FASD and gives the reader an inside view of what a person with this disability experiences through Kevin’s fight with the social and justice systems. Jodee is able to subtly incorporate the manner in which FASD manifests itself without making the reader uninterested with the details.

I am overcome with the manner in which Jodee was able to thread together racism, poverty, abuse, fetal alcohol, depression, and post traumatic stress disorder with smoothness that did not confuse the reader. This book leaves the reader absorbed in the challenge to discover how each of the preceding issues will come together on common ground and allow for a better understanding of FASD. The overall perspective of this book takes the reader to a true understanding of what a person struggling with an FASD may be facing on a daily basis. The analogies to other disabilities and inequities lead the reader to get a feel for the inner workings of the brain of a person who is affected by prenatal alcohol exposure. The issues at hand were made very clear and with such emotion it left the reader feeling very melancholy but with hope for redemption.

The Whitest Wall is a book that will be appreciated by anyone who reads it. It is a great work of fiction with a touch of reality that leaves the reader waiting for the next book.

Ruth A. Rice
FASD Program Director, White Earth


This is a must read book for everyone as it's a topic that has been in the closet for too long.
Glenys DiLissio, Executive Director, 08/13/2008

Having compiled many books and other video resources on Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder over the past 10 years or more, I have added Jodee's newest fictional story focusing on FASD to the top of my list along with her other educational books on the subject. This is a must read book for everyone, because most of us probably know someone impacted from FASD even if we aren't aware of their problem. Jodee's characters are real life. They made me laugh with them as well as cry, and I can relate to the many problems and situations described in the Whitest Wall as I have been employed in the drug and alcohol field for the past 25 years. FASD is an undiagnosed and misdiagnosed condition that has been ignored for too long by mental health, drug and alcohol, medical and educational field and every other social service field. Jodee's book will open everyone's eyes that FASD is a very serious issue that we all need to become better educated about as well as develop services for those impacted by it. Jodee, I can't wait until Book 2 comes out. Keep the Faith.

Also recommended: Everyone also needs to read The Best I Can Be by Jodee and Liz Kulp as well as The Long Way to Simple by Stephen J. Neafcy.

Reader Reviews for "The Whitest Wall - Book One Bootleg Brother's Trilogy"

Reviewed by Terry Rizzuti	1/4/2009
Ms. Kulp, thank you for alerting me to your book, The Whitest Wall. I’m sorry it took me so long to read it. I’m a slow reader and the holidays got in the way. I wish I had your private email to send this to because I’m not crazy about posting reviews on AuthorsDen or Amazon where anyone can see them. You have an excellent command of story telling, including exceptional physical descriptions of setting, characters and tone. I especially like your talent for turning a phrase. The one disappointment I had with the novel was that since it’s a trilogy, I’m not sure I figured out the mystery. I’ll have to wait for Tiger Butterfly or Different Beats. I found the story interesting from start to finish. I’m the kind of reader that likes lots of action, and there were plenty of twists, turns and intertwining to keep me reading. While character conflict is minimal, the potential is always there. I liked Reggae, and learned a lot from him about middle-to-upper class black people. I liked Gunner also, but thought he was a little too preachy too soon with young Q. And I especially liked and appreciated the Cast Introduction at the beginning of the novel. That was a lifesaver for a reader like me who continually loses track of who’s who. It’s interesting to me that The Whitest Wall is primarily marketed as a book about Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders. To me the book is about discrimination, discrimination against all that is not white -- ethnic “color,” disability, and even shades of grayness (i.e., anything perceived as “too” different, including religious beliefs). It’s about how discrimination not only pervades our culture but lessens it, yet doesn’t have to, that personal introspection and reaching out through curiosity, respect and even innocence can overcome this shortcoming and raise us, raise America, to new levels. Ms. Kulp, I really appreciate the lessons gained from reading your novel. I wish you all the best of luck with your future work. Terry
Reviewed by Jodee Kulp	11/13/2008
Jodee Kulp has created a new third-person Catcher in the Rye! Review by Lyelle Palmer, Ph.D., Special Education Professor Emeritus, Winona State University, Minnesota. lpalmer.winona.edu Kulp captures the chaotic turmoil of culturally-muddled miscommunication and FAS brain fog of lost-boy Kevin, a 21-year-old going-on-ten jailed for murder, seemingly by his own matter-of-fact confession. Walls surround the characters as the culture of a stable, rural lily-white community braces for an influx of racial minorities and city dwellers seeking a more relaxed lifestyle. A possible serial killer presents a sinister unease in this paradise. We live in external and internal worlds—what if the internal world did not exist for you? What if you had no pictures, remembrances, no images of future, possibilities, eventualies. What if you were always shocked when awakening from the grayness of sleep by the sudden vividness of the real world? Walls of multi-cultural and ethnic differences, language, mores, dress, worship and foods can be breached as people get to know each other. But the whitest wall of all is inside Kevin, whose every awakening is an abrupt screaming perceptual shock. Imagine not being able to imagine--unable to project ahead possible causes and effects or to remember and to learn from his past, living only in the literal present, he is bewildered to find himself behind bars where his fly entertainment antics annoy and enrage rather than entertain his cellmates. His innocence would be charming and cute if it were not so indicative of the legacy of scrambled brain cells his mother created in him in her sodden search to wall out the real world and drown her deep emotions of despair. Kevin has learned only one culture--that of the slang gang using hood hip-hop and cop-out; communicating in the rural mainstream strains beyond credulity. The old saying, “If you had half a brain, you would know…” would apply to Kevin, except that he has less than half a brain, although he appears to be a regular young man with a strong desire to please. To the sheriff’s question, “..Do you know why you are here?” Kevin replied, “I killed doc Johnson.” Is this a simple open and shut case? The warp and woof of the story line present a dramatic and complex set of young characters who learn about life and being an adult in different ways, from family, elders, sexual encounters, advice and threats. If only Kevin had the ability to learn, he might have a chance for survival in a world that can be treacherous and dangerous when you hang out with the wrong crowd. Kulp has an impressive grasp of non-mainstream cultures and the ability to present speeches in dramatic and sensitive settings. This story will connect with inner-city minority kids and young adults. We all do stupid things in our youth, but we learn from escapades and develop the maturity that comes from experience. We explore cultures and develop abilities to understand and communicate in several cultures. What if we knew only one culture, one language, one family, one neighborhood? Travel broadens, but for the alcohol-challenged, one can get lost—lost in the bottle, lost in the world, lost to friends, lost to family, ultimately living with a lost brain. Kulp makes these lessons not only palatable, but intriguing with clues, characters and sub-plots that lure young readers on into enlightened understanding. Everyone wonders why certain people do things that appear strange to us. Since communication and miscommunication is an issue for each of us, this theme is universal. The Whitest Wall is a worthy read, a trip into a novel world, written with entertainment quality as vivid as a screenplay with a multitude of metaphors for interpretation and meaning. Is Kevin the culture of America that is single-mindedly focused on contemporary entertainment with little thought to past or future, lack of awareness in communicating with foreign cultures? Is the white wall the blindness to aspects of ourselves and society? This tantalizing tale should engage youthful readers and provoke discussion among those of high-school age and older. Caulfield, move over, there is much more to tell! Kulp captures the chaotic turmoil of culturally-muddled miscommunication and FAS brain fog of lost-boy Kevin, a 21-year-old going-on-ten jailed for murder, seemingly by his own matter-of-fact confession. Walls surround the characters as the culture of a stable, rural lily-white community braces for an influx of racial minorities and city dwellers seeking a more relaxed lifestyle. A possible serial killer presents a sinister unease in this paradise. We live in external and internal worlds—what if the internal world did not exist for you? What if you had no pictures, remembrances, no images of future, possibilities, eventualies. What if you were always shocked when awakening from the grayness of sleep by the sudden vividness of the real world? Walls of multi-cultural and ethnic differences, language, mores, dress, worship and foods can be breached as people get to know each other. But the whitest wall of all is inside Kevin, whose every awakening is an abrupt screaming perceptual shock. Imagine not being able to imagine--unable to project ahead possible causes and effects or to remember and to learn from his past, living only in the literal present, he is bewildered to find himself behind bars where his fly entertainment antics annoy and enrage rather than entertain his cellmates. His innocence would be charming and cute if it were not so indicative of the legacy of scrambled brain cells his mother created in him in her sodden search to wall out the real world and drown her deep emotions of despair. Kevin has learned only one culture--that of the slang gang using hood hip-hop and cop-out; communicating in the rural mainstream strains beyond credulity. The old saying, “If you had half a brain, you would know…” would apply to Kevin, except that he has less than half a brain, although he appears to be a regular young man with a strong desire to please. To the sheriff’s question, “..Do you know why you are here?” Kevin replied, “I killed doc Johnson.” Is this a simple open and shut case? The warp and woof of the story line present a dramatic and complex set of young characters who learn about life and being an adult in different ways, from family, elders, sexual encounters, advice and threats. If only Kevin had the ability to learn, he might have a chance for survival in a world that can be treacherous and dangerous when you hang out with the wrong crowd. Kulp has an impressive grasp of non-mainstream cultures and the ability to present speeches in dramatic and sensitive settings. This story will connect with inner-city minority kids and young adults. We all do stupid things in our youth, but we learn from escapades and develop the maturity that comes from experience. We explore cultures and develop abilities to understand and communicate in several cultures. What if we knew only one culture, one language, one family, one neighborhood? Travel broadens, but for the alcohol-challenged, one can get lost—lost in the bottle, lost in the world, lost to friends, lost to family, ultimately living with a lost brain. Kulp makes these lessons not only palatable, but intriguing with clues, characters and sub-plots that lure young readers on into enlightened understanding. Everyone wonders why certain people do things that appear strange to us. Since communication and miscommunication is an issue for each of us, this theme is universal. The Whitest Wall is a worthy read, a trip into a novel world, written with entertainment quality as vivid as a screenplay with a multitude of metaphors for interpretation and meaning. Is Kevin the culture of America that is single-mindedly focused on contemporary entertainment with little thought to past or future, lack of awareness in communicating with foreign cultures? Is the white wall the blindness to aspects of ourselves and society? This tantalizing tale should engage youthful readers and provoke discussion among those of high-school age and older. Caulfield, move over, there is much more to tell! Review by Lyelle Palmer, Ph.D., Special Education Professor Emeritus, Winona State University, Minnesota. lpalmer.winona.edu

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