Synopses & Reviews
"Laura Wiess's masterful prose kept me turning the pages. This is the first book in a very long time that made me say, 'Wish I'd written this'" (Ellen Hopkins, author of
Crank, on
Such a Pretty Girl).
Oh c'mon, Dad, nothing's going to happen.
And for sixteen year-old Rowan Areno, shielded by her parents from the dark side of life, nothing bad usually does...until that last Friday in March when Rowan cuts school for a day of fun--and a random stranger's shocking crime sets a traumatic series of events into motion that will change her life forever.
The crime video goes viral, the cruel, relentless aftermath threatening Rowan, her family, and Eli, a witness haunted by losses of his own. But when tragedy strikes, shattering Rowan's world and destroying all she thought was true, not even Eli can protect her from the devastation.
Her life now divided into Before and After, Rowan struggles to survive, searching for answers, and desperate to make sense of what remains. She discovers that everyone grieves differently, though, and the path to love and forgiveness isn't simple or straightforward. Will she carry these emotional wounds with her forever, or with Eli's help, can she learn to trust, hope and believe in happiness again?
Me Since You is Laura Wiess at her finest--a beautiful, gripping, and painfully honest examination of love, loss, and a family in crisis.
Synopsis
"Laura Wiess's masterful prose kept me turning the pages. This is the first book in a very long time that made me say, 'Wish I'd written this'" (Ellen Hopkins, author of Crank, on Such a Pretty Girl).
Laura Wiess captures the visceral emotion of a girl's journey from innocence to devastating loss and, ultimately, to a strange and unexpected kind of understanding--in this beautiful and painfully honest new novel.
Are there any answers when someone you love makes a tragic choice?
Before and After. That's how Rowan Areno sees her life now. Before: she was a normal sixteen-year-old--a little too sheltered by her police officer father and her mother. After: everything she once believed has been destroyed in the wake of a shattering tragedy, and every day is there to be survived.
If she had known, on that Friday in March when she cut school, that a random stranger's shocking crime would have traumatic consequences, she never would have left campus. If the crime video never went viral, maybe she could have saved her mother, grandmother--and herself--from the endless replay of heartache and grief.
Finding a soul mate in Eli, a witness to the crime who is haunted by losses of his own, Rowan begins to see there is no simple, straightforward path to healing wounded hearts. Can she learn to trust, hope, and believe in happiness again?
Synopsis
“Laura Wiess’s masterful prose kept me turning the pages. This is the first book in a very long time that made me say, ‘Wish I’d written this’” (Ellen Hopkins, author of Crank, on Such a Pretty Girl).Sixteen-year-old Rowan is still reeling from her father’s suicide four months ago, after he failed to stop a man from leaping off an overpass to his death. The only witness—Eli, wrapped deep in his own mourning for his soldier father, who was killed overseas. Rowan and Eli meet at her father’s funeral and begin to navigate the stages of grief, and its aftermath, together.
Rowan’s father has left a note but Rowan can’t bring herself to read it yet. She dreams of her own close call with dying. Rowan’s mother, caught in guilt at failing to save her husband, begins saving stray cats to atone. Rowan’s grandmother, who equates food with love, can’t stop cooking. Grief, fractured and unpredictable, rules their lives now, changing them and nothing about life makes sense anymore. Together, Eli and Rowan struggle to make sense of what’s gone, what is left—and in the process, begin to fall in love. In Don’t Look Back, Laura Wiess has once again written a beautiful, gripping and painfully honest examination of adolescence.
Synopsis
Laura Wiess captures the visceral emotion of a girl’s journey from innocence to devastating loss and, ultimately, to a strange and unexpected kind of understanding—in this beautiful and painfully honest new novel.
Are there any answers when someone you love makes a tragic choice?
Before and After. That’s how Rowan Areno sees her life now. Before: she was a normal sixteen-year-old—a little too sheltered by her police officer father and her mother. After: everything she once believed has been destroyed in the wake of a shattering tragedy, and every day is there to be survived.
If she had known, on that Friday in March when she cut school, that a random stranger’s shocking crime would have traumatic consequences, she never would have left campus. If the crime video never went viral, maybe she could have saved her mother, grandmother—and herself—from the endless replay of heartache and grief.
Finding a soul mate in Eli, a witness to the crime who is haunted by losses of his own, Rowan begins to see there is no simple, straightforward path to healing wounded hearts. Can she learn to trust, hope, and believe in happiness again?
About the Author
Laura Wiess is the author of Such a Pretty Girl, chosen as one of the ALA’s 2008 Best Books for Young Adults and 2008 YALSA Quick Picks for Reluctant Readers; How It Ends; Ordinary Beauty; and Leftovers. She lives in Pennsylvania’s Endless Mountains Region. Visit her online at LauraWiess.com.