Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    From $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    Irises
    Irises
    Irises
    Audiobook7 hours

    Irises

    Written by Francisco Stork

    Narrated by Carrington MacDuffie

    3.5/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    Kate is bound for Stanford and an M.D.—if her family will let her go. Mary wants to stay home and paint. When their loving but repressive father dies, they must figure out how to support themselves and their mother, who is in a permanent vegetative state. Then three men sway their lives: Kate’s boyfriend Simon offers to marry her, providing much-needed stability. Mary is drawn to Marcos, though she fears his violent past. And Andy tempts Kate with more than romance, recognizing her ambition because it matches his own. Kate and Mary find new possibilities and darknesses in their sudden freedom. But it’s Mama’s life that might divide them for good—the question of if she lives, and what’s worth living for.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherPenguin Random House Audio Publishing Group
    Release dateJan 10, 2012
    ISBN9780307967954
    Irises

    More audiobooks from Francisco Stork

    Related to Irises

    Related audiobooks

    YA Family For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • UNLIMITED

      As God Sees Me

      Feb 1, 2024

      As God Sees Me
      5 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      A Father’s Touch

      Jan 30, 2021

      A Father’s Touch
      5 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      LUNCH WITH Lisa Curry

      Jun 15, 2022

      LUNCH WITH Lisa Curry
      9 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Justanother Day

      May 31, 2022

      Justanother Day
      6 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      A New Song TO SING

      May 15, 2024

      A New Song TO SING
      6 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Some Kindof Justice

      Mar 10, 2023

      What I’m about to tell you happened like thirty years ago or something. It happened to my mum, and I only know about it because she got drunk last Christmas and like totally broke down crying and saying she was a bad person. Of course, I told her she

      13 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Q&a With Richard Lui

      Mar 26, 2019

      Q&a With Richard Lui
      4 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Let Me Do It

      Jun 1, 2023

      Let Me Do It
      6 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Being There

      Mar 26, 2019

      Being There
      6 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Birthday Surprise

      Sep 17, 2021

      Birthday Surprise
      5 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Shanda

      Jan 1, 2024

      Shanda
      13 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Tea With The Dragon Lady

      Sep 15, 2020

      Tea With The Dragon Lady
      6 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Tea With The DRAGON LADY

      Feb 12, 2020

      Tea With The DRAGON LADY
      6 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Handmade CHRISTMAS

      Nov 17, 2021

      Handmade CHRISTMAS
      6 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Death On The Limpopo

      Sep 16, 2019

      Death On The Limpopo
      5 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      ‘Never Say You Can’t, Always Say You Can And You Will’

      Aug 27, 2020

      Supportive parents really make a difference. My mum and dad, Marge and George, were always very encouraging. I think because I was born just after the war there was the sense in them of, ‘This is the generation that can have more than we had.’ She wa

      2 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Strangers in India

      Oct 2, 2023

      Strangers in India
      9 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      The Workbench

      Dec 23, 2020

      The Workbench
      6 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Pieces of A LIFE

      Sep 3, 2020

      Pieces of A LIFE
      4 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Unwanted Attention

      Sep 28, 2023

      Unwanted Attention
      2 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Counselor of Chippewa Cabin

      Jun 26, 2020

      Counselor of Chippewa Cabin
      5 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Giving It All to God

      Oct 1, 2021

      Giving It All to God
      6 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Daughters’ Bodies

      Dec 1, 2019

      WHEN I’M about to go away to college, my grandmother dies and my mother silently puts herself up for adoption. LOOKING FOR SOMEONE TO ADOPT ME: Kind, lonely, beautiful woman in her 50s. Dead husband. No children. Cooks and cleans. 4’11 and 90 lbs. Gu

      20 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      The GRANDFATHER CLOCK

      Feb 10, 2021

      The GRANDFATHER CLOCK
      6 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Lies I Tell My Father

      Feb 10, 2024

      “How’s your job at the newspaper?” my father asks me. He is sitting on a couch, a plush throw blanket spread across his legs. “The newspaper’s fine,” I lie. I lie because it is simple. I lie because it is quick. I lie because it is easier than trying

      10 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      The Ninth Step

      Aug 26, 2020

      The Ninth Step
      6 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      I Never

      Jul 10, 2022

      “What’d you do now?” he hollered. Sheriff Thorn’s words struck my heart. Without thinking, I grasped the knife to pull it from her chest. “Shit, you crazy coot, drop it,” he snarled, then grabbed me up and slammed me against the side of the cruiser.

      13 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for Irises

    3.5/5

    43 ratings11 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 4/5
      Irises is a YA story by Franciso X. Stork, an author that I have found incredibly reliable at delivering interesting stories in an intelligent, well written manner. This is the first book by him that I haven’t been totally absorbed by and loved. Don’t get me wrong, it is still an interesting subject matter and is very well written, it just wasn’t a story that particularly appealed to me at this time.

      It is about two sisters, Kate and Mary, who have been brought up by a strict father and whose mother, who brought the light and laughter to their lives, has been in a vegetative state for the last two years. The live in El Paso, Texas, but Kate dreams of going to university at Stanford in California. Mary lives to paint, although since her mother’s accident she has struggled to find the passion for her art. When their father dies suddenly, the two sisters must find a way to reach an agreement on some major decisions that need to be made before the girls can be free to find their way forward.

      Irises is a story of love, sorrow and hope as these two sisters work through some very real problems and learn the value of having family at your side to help with the pain and hardships. Although this wasn’t a story that I particularly identified with, I can see that, like most good YA literature, it could generate good discussion among fourteen – fifteen year old readers.
    • 3/5
      This is a wonderful story about family and growing up. It was hard to read because of my own upbringing, a strict household with a religious parent, but only because my family was well adapting. I knew why Kate and Mary's dad was so hard on them but they didn't because he never got a chance to explain like mine did.
      What made this story worth the struggle to read was the growing relationship between the two sisters. Kate being the oldest and bearing the brunt of her father's loving but overbearing nature was the more selfish of the two. She dreamed of going to Stanford because her mom made her promise she would go there. At one point Kate also promised to take care of her family no matter but somehow made a lot of choices that weren't the best for them. She struggles with how to take care of her sister and continue pursuing her dreams and by the end the conclusion was so satisfying.
      I didn't like Kate's romance at all. Her doormat of a boyfriend Simon was a sad fellow who probably should've taken a hint long before he proposed that she wasn't as into him as he thought. Alex was an ambitious ass who screamed creeper to me. I cast him as this hot preacher dude that a girl could fantasize about and go to hell for but he was unacceptable to my eyes for her thank god Kate came to the same conclusion
      Mary on the other hand had a sweet growing up arc that made me smile. And Marcos was such a cutie pie I wanted to squish them together and throw paper heart confetti in the air
      Great story for the family aspect but don't hold your breath for an epic romance.
    • 4/5
      Very thorough exploration of family, trust, honesty and end-of-life choices. Probably the first book I've read that deeply explores the differences between dying when in a persistent vegetative state and dying from a terminal condition. Surprisingly, this book is not a "downer". The relationship between two sisters slowly and beautifully develops under Stork's skillful pen.
    • 4/5
      A touching story about two sisters facing family tragedy together.
    • 3/5
      Mary and Kate's father dies and their mother is in a vegatative state. This is about their lives and how they have to cope with this. I liked the book pretty much although it was a bit too religious for me. The writing style reminded me of a novel from the 1950's or 1960's
    • 4/5
      Here's what I love about Francisco X. Stork: He writes inspirational stories without feeling the need to preach.

      I saw it in Marcelo in the Real World, then again in The Last Summer of the Death Warriors, and now... he completely turns away from the male-focused stories and focuses instead on two girls, sisters, ages 16 and 18, and manages to write with such an honest and clear voice I found my heartstrings being tugged at again and again.

      While I didn't love this story as much as I loved Marcelo and Summer, I still found it had honest merit, and I could relate to it. I grew up in a fairly restricted environment, and my sympathies were definitely inclined toward the sisters.. but I also found myself disbelieving some things as well - such as the scenes with the new, young pastor. It just seemed a bit far-fetched and strange to me, and that's what kept me from overly gushing at this book - but still it had a quiet sort of beauty that made me glad to have read it, and once again I was proven right in my love for Mr. Stork.
    • 3/5
      I have read everything Stork has written, and this is the first book of his that didn’t have me gasping with love and admiration for his writing and his characters.

      The story is about two sisters: Kate who is 18, and Mary who is 16. They are daughters of a preacher who has always been very strict with them. At the onset of the book, the dad dies of heart failure, and Kate and Mary have to cope on their own. Their mother is still home, but has been in a vegetative state on a feeding tube ever since she was in a car accident, with doctors declaring that there is no hope she can ever be “alive” again. But none of the family would even consider removing her feeding tube. Kate and Mary had been helping their father care for her, along with a nurse who stops in once a day. But now that their father is gone, the money will be running out, and they don’t know what to do.

      Discussion: Kate and Mary have a big decision to make. They love their mother, and don’t want to “kill” her, and yet their own dreams have been quashed by the situation. What is right to do? Is there a soul and if so, is it still in their mother? If they disconnect her, would it mean they didn’t actually “love” her? Is it selfish for them to want to pursue their own lives? Can ambition and love be reconciled? The church has a new pastor who offers an opinion, but Kate and Mary question his advice because they question his values. In the end, there is nothing to guide them but their own hearts and minds.

      Evaluation: Part of the reason I wasn’t so taken with this book is because I’ve read Stork’s other books and they seemed so much better to me. I do know that this is a wonderful discussion book, even if it didn’t magically entrance me, like his others did.
    • 4/5
      Francisco X. Stork does not shy away from issues. In Marcelo in the Real World he discusses Aspberger's Syndrome. Marcelo is torn between his desire to stay in his special school and his father's demand that he experience and learn to function in the real world. As we'll learn, this is a relatively tame issue for Stork.

      In The Last Summer of the Death Warriors, he deals with a young man, Pancho, who is out to kill the man who he believes attacked and killed his 'simple-minded' younger sister. Sent to an orphanage after both his sister and his father die within a short time span, Pancho meets D.Q., who is battling a rare form of cancer. All D.Q. want to do is survive long enough to finish writing his Death Warrior manifesto, which is about "loving life at all times and in all circumstances," and to convince Pancho to embrace the Death Warrior philosophy.

      In Irises, Stork tackles the death of one parent and the vegetative state of another parent. Sixteen year old Mary and eighteen year old Kate's pastor father dies suddenly. Two years prior, he was driving with his wife, tried to beat the yellow light and didn't make it. Catalina, his wife, is now a vegetable, living at home with a feeding tube, tended by her daughters. The pastor's death obviously causes untold trauma and stress in the children's lives. Living in El Paso, Kate has been accepted at Stanford University, pre-med, on a full scholarship. If she leaves, what is to become of Mary? If she stays, what is to become of her dreams? And is Catalina really living? Is her light still shining?

      I thought Marcelo in the Real World was an excellent book and while I didn't love The Last Summer of the Death Warriors, I gave Stork a lot of credit for dealing with the subject. Irises falls into the latter category. I like the characters. I understand the emotions. Having been involved in two "pulling the plug" decisions in my life, it is not something anyone wants to participate in. And so, I give Stork credit for portraying, in a realistic way, the emotions surrounding such decisions. Having said that, though, I just couldn't get into the story. It didn't grip me. I don't know why.

      Despite my feelings about Irises, you know that I am looking forward to Francisco X. Stork's next book because, undoubtedly, it will be like no other. I suggest you read Irises, named after the Van Gogh painting that Mary is trying so hard to copy, because it tackles a subject not yet tackled in Young Adult literature.
    • 4/5
      I've read two of Stork's other books (The Last Summer Of The Death Warriors and Marcelo in the Real World), which I absolutely loved. He strong writing style holds up in this book, but I didn't like Irises as much as I'd hoped. It's the story of two sisters, a mother who's in a coma (and unlikely to wake up) and a father who's a strict minister/preacher. When their father dies, the two girls must come to terms with who they are and what they want to do. At times I could relate to both girls, but most of the time I got annoyed at the decisions Stork had them make. I wanted this to be a far better book and I'm disappointed that it was good, but not great.
    • 3/5
      This review is hard to write because it is not what I hoped it would be. Does that make it a bad book? Not necessarily, but when something is so built up in your mind, it is hard to stop comparing the actual book to the book that was made-up in your head.

      The novel takes off with Kate and Mary, two sisters, who find themselves in an extremely difficult situation. Their father passes away and they are left alone with the burden of their mother who is in a vegetative state, not really living at all. The two girls must decide whether to do what is expected of them, for the good of their family, or to do what they feel they should do, for the good of themselves. What makes a person selfish? What kind of life is worth living? Who decides these things?

      The premise of the novel interested me and I really enjoyed seeing the confusing and changing dimensions of the sister relationship. However, this novel is very religious. I am Catholic myself, so religion does not usually bother me... But it was like I was reading a Christian novel, that is how prevalent the religion theme is. This book is not really marketed that way, so I was surprised to find this.

      The atmosphere, overall, was suffocating. I felt stuck just reading it. This is something that is hard to explain... What I kept thinking of is like a scene in a movie: no background music, drab carpeting, uncomfortable couches, a deep feeling of awkwardness and the overwhelming sense that the characters don't belong but they have no choice but to stay. I was eager to find out how the ending was, but I was also eager to get out of the stifling nature of that world.
    • 4/5
      Two sisters, one 18, the other 16, are left to survive on their own and decide what to do with their mother who is on life-support after their father dies suddenly.