Synopses & Reviews
When Cassie moves from the tiny town where she has always lived to a suburb of Seattle, she is determined to leave her boring, good-girl existence behind. This is Cassieand#8217;s chance to stop being invisible and become the kind of girl whoand#8217;s worth noticing. andlt;BRandgt;Stepping into her new identity turns out to be easier than Cassie could have ever imagined...one moment, one choice, will change everything. andlt;BRandgt;Cassieand#8217;s new existence both thrills and terrifies her. Swept into a world of illicit parties and social landmines, she sheds her virginity, embraces the numbness she feels from the drugs, and floats through it all, knowing that she is now called beautiful. She ignores the dangers of her fast-paced lifeand#8230;but she canand#8217;t sidestep the secrets and the cruelty. andlt;BRandgt;Cassie is trapped in a swift downward spiral tinged with violence and abuse, and no oneand#8212;not even the one person she thought she could trustand#8212;can help her now. andlt;BRandgt;andlt;BRandgt;and#8220;andlt;Iandgt;Beautifulandlt;/Iandgt; is stark, disquieting and, quite simply, riveting. Amy Reed is an author to keep on your radar.and#8221; --Ellen Hopkins, bestselling author ofandnbsp;andlt;Iandgt;Crank andlt;/Iandgt;andlt;BRandgt;andlt;BRandgt;and#8220;A latter-day andlt;Iandgt;Go Ask Aliceandlt;/Iandgt;, andlt;Iandgt;Beautiful andlt;/Iandgt;is raw, gritty, and powerful, an intense ice-pick jab to the heart. A stunning debut and a must-read.and#8221; --R.A. Nelson, author of andlt;Iandgt;Teach Meandlt;/Iandgt; andlt;BRandgt;andlt;BRandgt;"In crisp, clean prose Amy Reed places the reader right into the heart and mind and life of a girl who makes the choice to be one of the beautiful ones. Reed gives a disturbing and concise snapshot of what it can be like today for teens struggling with self-identity and peer acceptance when in a heartbeat they follow the 'wrong road.'" --M. Sindy Felin, National Book Award Finalist for andlt;Iandgt;Touching Snowandlt;/Iandgt;
Review
"[andlt;iandgt;Beautifulandlt;/iandgt;] is essentially a new-millenium andlt;iandgt;Go Ask Aliceandlt;/iandgt; with a similar blend of cautionary horror story and weirdly fascinated detail . . . . Chilling narration . . . . There's boldness in the book's willingness to make Cassie unsympathetic at times . . . . Train-wreck fascination galore . . . . It'll probably be passed around enthusiastically."andlt;BRandgt; --andlt;iandgt;The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Booksandlt;/iandgt;, November 2009.
Review
"The gift in this book [andlt;Iandgt;Beautifulandlt;/Iandgt;] is Reed's ability to find the perfect words and use them in ways for which the reader is not ready. The writing is lonely, haunting, sensuous, and oddly beautiful."andlt;BRandgt; andlt;Bandgt;andlt;Iandgt;--VOYA,andlt;/Iandgt; August 2010andlt;/Bandgt;
Synopsis
When thirteen-year-old Cassie moves to a suburb of Seattle, she is determined to leave her boring, good-girl existence behind. She chooses some dangerous new friends and is quickly caught up in their fast-paced world of drugs, sex, secrets, and cruelty.
Cassie's new existence both thrills and terrifies her. She embraces the numbness she feels from the drugs, starts sleeping with an older boy, and gets pulled into a twisted friendship triangle that is tinged with violence and abuse. Cassie is trapped in a swift downward spiral, and there's no turning back.
Synopsis
When 13-year-old Cassie moves to a suburb of Seattle, she is determined to leave her boring, good-girl existence behind. She chooses some dangerous new friends and is quickly caught up in their fast-paced world of drugs, sex, secrets, and cruelty.
About the Author
Amy Reed was born and raised in and around Seattle, where she attended a total of eight schools by the time she was eighteen. Constant moving taught her to be restless and being an only child made her imagination do funny things. After a brief stint at Reed College (no relation), she moved to San Francisco and spent the next several years serving coffee and getting into trouble. She eventually graduated from film school, promptly decided she wanted nothing to do with filmmaking, returned to her original and impractical love of writing, and earned her MFA from New College of California. Amy currently lives in Oakland with her husband and two cats, and has accepted that Northern California has replaced the Pacific Northwest as her home. She is no longer restless. Find out more at amyreedfiction.com or follow her on Twitter at @amyreedfiction.