Synopses & Reviews
Best friends. BFFs. Soul twinsies. Whatever you want to call them, Harper and Lily were born to be besties. With high school just around the corner, casual-cool Cali girl Harper and awkward, always-costumed Lily make sure to text each other every day about their bond:
Harper: I love you so much that I am going to sneak out of detention to pay that guy from Craigslist $100 to cut off all your hair for my secret collection.
Lily: I love you so much Im going destroy everyone in your life that matters and force you to depend and love only me.
Harper: That sounds beautiful. I love you.
Not even the threat of different high schools could throw this BFFship off-course, even if Lily begs her parents not to send her to the dreaded Pathways," a special school for creative types, while effortlessly-popular Harper attends Beverly High with the rest of their class.
But in a city where fitting in means standing out and theres nothing more uncool than being cool, its the naturally charismatic Harper--with her blond hair and perfect bone structure--who finds herself fighting the tide of American Appareld teens who rule the school. Meanwhile, its the perpetually gawkward” Lily--who accessories every ensemble with a pair of tattered fairy wings--who finds herself flying alongside the queen bees of Pathways. Can BFF-ship survive the tidal wave of HS drama, or does growing up mean leaving some friends behind?
Inspired by the HelloGiggles community of likeminded best friends, founded by IRL besties Zooey Deschanel and Sophia Rossi, and set in a hilarious insiders version of Los Angeles, A Tale of Two Besties will make you giggle and cry
and then tell you how cute you look with runny mascara.
It's like my twins stepped out of the eighties and dropped down into today. Deliciously funny with heart.” Francine Pascal, bestselling author and creator of the Sweet Valley High series
Review
Praise for Love and Other Foreign Words:
"Im about to GUSH, absolutely GUSH, about Love and Other Foreign Words. . . . Its beautifully written, and it touches the heart of the high school (and lets be honest, adult) life experience: figuring out where you belong and what that means about who you are. . . . A standout . . . I loved every single moment, and I cant recommend [it] enough!”—Lisa Parkin for the Huffington Posts “Top 12 Young Adult Books of 2014”
“Cracklingly smart . . . With impeccable clarity—and hilarity . . . This clever read will satisfy fans of Rainbow Rowell, John Green, and Stephanie Perkins.” —Booklist
“Impossibly winning.” —The Wall Street Journal
«“McCahans sharp-witted first-person narrative will keep readers laughing." —Publishers Weekly (starred review)
“Josies a rarity in teen literature, a genuine original. . . . Trying to control what cant be controlled, wanting and fearing love, shes one of us. Lively characters and a satisfying plot foil reader expectations in the best possible way.”—Kirkus Reviews
“Readers in the mood for serious laughs need look no further . . . [Josie Sheridans] analytical, overthinking narration and knack for delivering truly lacerating quips . . . will have readers sticking by her side.” —Publishers Weekly, Best Summer Books 2014
“A true-blue lovable weirdo, [Josie is] the type of character I really enjoy seeing . . . [She is] authentically herself, even when being herself gets in her into trouble.” —HelloGiggles
Review
An ALA Best Book for Young Adults
A Horn Book Fanfare Best Book of the Year
A Booklist Editors Choice
A Kirkus Best Book of the Year
"Fully fun, challengingly complex and entirely entertaining." —Kirkus, starred review
“Laugh-out-loud funny…a coming-of-age American road trip that is at once a satire of and tribute to its many celebrated predecessors.” -Horn Book, starred review
“Imagine an operating room at the start of a daring but well-rehearsed procedure and you will have something of the atmosphere of “An Abundance of Katherines”: every detail considered, the action unrolling with grace and inevitability.” --New York Times Book Review
“Funny, sweet, and unpredictable.” -The Minneapolis Star Tribune
“The laugh-out-loud humor ranges from delightfully sophomoric to subtly intellectual.” -Booklist, starred review
Review
Praise for Love and Other Foreign Words:
"A story as funny, off-beat, and warm-hearted as its heroine. I was wowed."—Huntley Fitzpatrick, author of My Life Next Door and What I Thought Was True
“Whether happy families are all truly alike, they can certainly have a similar effect when they appear in a novel: The reader cant help longing to join them. This sentiment kept recurring as I laughed my way through Erin McCahans impossibly winning [novel].”—The Wall Street Journal
“Readers in the mood for serious laughs need look no further than McCahans story about 15-year-old Josie Sheridan… [whose] analytical, overthinking narration and knack for delivering truly lacerating quips…will have readers sticking by her side.”—Publishers Weekly, “Best Summer Books 2014”
“Josies a rarity in teen literature, a genuine original. Being gifted sets her apart. Armored by arch mannerisms, trying to control what cant be controlled, wanting and fearing love, shes one of us. Lively characters and a satisfying plot foil reader expectations in the best possible way.”—Kirkus Reviews
“Coming-of-age moments add a nice bit of heart to Josies journey… A quirky love story.”—School Library Journal
“A true-blue lovable weirdo, [Josie is] the type of character I really enjoy seeing… [she is] authentically herself, even when being herself gets in her into trouble.”—HelloGiggles
“Its refreshing to meet a character so cracklingly smart that you wish you could actually buy her a coffee and just hear her jabber. Thats Josie, the main gal in the latest from McCahan.… With impeccable clarity—and hilarity—Josie explores how magical things left unsaid can be and how even a native tongue can be full of meaning and surprises. This clever read will satisfy fans of Rainbow Rowell, John Green, and Stephanie Perkins.”—Booklist
“Josies a rarity in teen literature, a genuine original. Being gifted sets her apart. Armored by arch mannerisms, trying to control what cant be controlled, wanting and fearing love, shes one of us. Lively characters and a satisfying plot foil reader expectations in the best possible way.”—Kirkus Reviews
Synopsis
Perfect for fans of John Green and Rainbow Rowell, Love and Other Foreign Words is equal parts comedy and coming of age--a whip-smart, big-hearted, laugh-out-loud love story about sisters, friends, and what it means to love at all. Can anyone be truly herself--or truly in love--in a language that's not her own?
Sixteen-year-old Josie lives her life in translation. She speaks High School, College, Friends, Boyfriends, Break-ups, and even the language of Beautiful Girls. But none of these is her native tongue--the only people who speak that are her best friend Stu and her sister Kate. So when Kate gets engaged to an epically insufferable guy, how can Josie see it as anything but the mistake of a lifetime? Kate is determined to bend Josie to her will for the wedding; Josie is determined to break Kate and her fiancé up. As battles are waged over secrets and semantics, Josie is forced to examine her feelings for the boyfriend who says he loves her, the sister she loves but doesn't always like, and the best friend who hasn't said a word--at least not in a language Josie understands.
Synopsis
From the #1 bestselling author of The Fault in Our Stars
Michael L. Printz Honor Book
Los Angeles Times Book Prize Finalist
Katherine V thought boys were gross
Katherine X just wanted to be friends
Katherine XVIII dumped him in an e-mail
K-19 broke his heart
When it comes to relationships, Colin Singleton's type happens to be girls named Katherine. And when it comes to girls named Katherine, Colin is always getting dumped. Nineteen times, to be exact.
On a road trip miles from home, this anagram-happy, washed-up child prodigy has ten thousand dollars in his pocket, a bloodthirsty feral hog on his trail, and an overweight, Judge Judy-loving best friend riding shotgun--but no Katherines. Colin is on a mission to prove The Theorem of Underlying Katherine Predictability, which he hopes will predict the future of any relationship, avenge Dumpees everywhere, and finally win him the girl.
Love, friendship, and a dead Austro-Hungarian archduke add up to surprising and heart-changing conclusions in this ingeniously layered comic novel about reinventing oneself.
Synopsis
One of the most
poignant and star-crossed love stories since
The Fault in Our Stars.”
Entertainment Weekly
Refreshing tale of forbidden love.”
People magazine
LaMarche tells a truly complex urban story worth telling.”
Vogue.com
Devorah is a consummate good girl who has never challenged the ways of her strict Hasidic upbringing. Jaxon is a fun-loving, book-smart nerd who has never been comfortable around girls (unless you count his four younger sisters). They've spent their entire lives in Brooklyn, on opposite sides of the same street. Their paths never crossed . . . until one day, they did.
When a hurricane strikes the Northeast, the pair becomes stranded in an elevator together, where fate leaves them no choice but to make an otherwise risky connection. Though their relationship is strictly forbidden, Devorah and Jaxon arrange secret meetings and risk everything to be together. But how far can they go? Just how much are they willing to give up?
In the timeless tradition of West Side Story while fitting seamlessly into place alongside current bestsellers like Rainbow Rowells Eleanor and Park, LIKE NO OTHER provides a thoroughly modern take on romance that will inspire laughter, tears, and the belief that love can happen when you least expect it.
Synopsis
Best friends
Harper and
Lily couldnt be more different if they tried. But they love each other so much its scary:
Harper: I love you so much that I am going to sneak out of detention to pay that guy from Craigslist $100 to cut off all your hair for my secret collection.
Lily: I love you so much Im going destroy everyone in your life that matters and force you to depend and love only me.
Harper: That sounds beautiful. I love you.
Effortlessly popular Harper and hopelessly awkward Lily are about to start freshman yearat two different high schools. Theyll be separated for the first time ever, but theyre not sweating it. Theyll talk every day and itll be like nothing ever changed!
But its tough out there for LA girls today. In a city where fitting in means standing out, and theres nothing more uncool than being cool, its no surprise that Harperwhos as fresh-faced and un-edgy as a GAP adends up feeling like the lone pigeon in Beverly Hills Highs flock of purple parakeets. Meanwhile, Lilywho rocks fairy wings on a semi-regular basis and often depends on Harper to navigate sticky social situationsends up the queen bee of Pathways, her artsy new prep school. Harper feels happy for Lily and her newfound coolness but cant help but wonder if her BFF is slowly slipping away.
Still, high school is only four years, and besties are forever. Nothing can shake Harper and Lilys bond . . . right?
Inspired by the real-life best-friendship between HelloGiggles co-founders Sophia Rossi and Zooey Deschanel and set in a hilarious insiders version of Beverly Hills, A Tale of Two Besties will make you laugh till you cry . . . and then tell you how cute you look with runny mascara.
About the Author
John Green is the award-winning, #1 bestselling author of Looking for Alaska, An Abundance of Katherines, Paper Towns, Will Grayson, Will Grayson (with David Levithan), and The Fault in Our Stars. His many accolades include the Printz Medal, a Printz Honor, and the Edgar Award. He has twice been a finalist for the LA Times Book Prize. John was selected by TIME magazine as one of the 100 Most Influential People in the World. With his brother, Hank, John is one half of the Vlogbrothers (youtube.com/vlogbrothers), one of the most popular online video projects in the world. You can join the millions who follow John on Twitter (@johngreen) and tumblr (fishingboatproceeds.tumblr.com) or visit him online at johngreenbooks.com.
John lives with his family in Indianapolis, Indiana.