Synopses & Reviews
If you could trade your biggest burden for someone elses, would you do it?
Five teenagers sit around a bonfire in the middle of the New Mexico desert. They dont know it yet, but they are about to make the biggest sacrifice of their lives.
Lo has a family history of MS, and is starting to come down with all the symptoms.
Thomas, a former child soldier from Liberia, is plagued by traumatic memories of his war-torn past.
Kaya would do anything to feel physical pain, but a rare condition called CIP keeps her numb.
Ellen cant remember who she was before she started doing drugs.
Kit lost his girlfriend in a car accident and now he just cant shake his newfound fear of death.
When they trade totems as a symbol of shedding and adopting one anothers sorrows, they think its only an exercise.
But in the morning, they wake to find their burdens gone
and replaced with someone elses.
As the reality of the ritual unfolds, this unlikely group of five embarks on a week of beautiful, terrifying experiences that all culminate in one perfect truth: In the end, your soul is stronger than your burdens.
"Utterly original, haunting, and honest, Strayhorn's literally infectious story of fear and hope will change the way you view your flaws forever." --Una LaMarche, critically acclaimed author of Like No Other and Five Summers
Review
“Before I Fall is smart, complex, and heartbreakingly beautiful. Lauren Oliver has written an extraordinary debut novel about what it means to liveand die.” Carolyn Mackler, author of Tangled and The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big Round Things, a Printz Honor book
Review
“Oliver, in a pitch-perfect teen voice, explores the power we have to affect the people around us in this intensely believable first novel...This is a compelling book with a powerful message and should not be missed.” ALA Booklist
Review
“Samanthas attempts to save her life and right the wrongs she has caused are precisely what will draw readers into this complex story and keep them turning pages until Sam succeeds in living her last day the right way.” Voice of Youth Advocates (VOYA) (starred review)
Review
“Olivers debut novel is raw, emotional, and, at times, beautiful....readers will love Samantha best as she hurtles toward an end as brave as it is heartbreaking.” Publishers Weekly (starred review)
Review
“This story races forward, twisting in a new direction every few pages, its characters spinning my emotions from affection to frustration, anger to compassion. Youll have no choice but to tear through this book!” Jay Asher, author of the New York Times bestseller Thirteen Reasons Why
Review
"Utterly original, haunting, and honest, Strayhorn's literally infectious story of fear and hope will change the way you view your flaws forever."
Review
"Eerie and sweet, haunting and real — a ghost story of love in its many forms: the kind that binds, and the kind that frees."—Laini Taylor, National Book Award finalist for Lips Touch: Three Times "This ghost story gently delivers growing emotional power as it explores the thoughts of three teens, including the ghost. . . . Poignant and eventually quite moving."--Kirkus Reviews "A welcome addition to the shelf of YA books that deal honestly with grief. Without sugarcoating, it achieves a melancholy sweetness that is becoming a hallmark of Daviss work."--Publishers Weekly "This tale is a comfortable read for those who want more than a pink-covered romance or a melodramatic storry of loss, neither cotton-candy light not three-hankie dark." — School Library Journal "A truly touching story." -Seventeen.com "Conversations about love, life, and death create a poignant connection between a life not quite lived and one in its final moments."--Bulletin
Review
"Life proves as haunting as death in this well-crafted ghost story."
—Kirkus
Review
"A fast-paced read that teens antsy to untangle the mystery will devour...hand to teens looking for a thought-provoking, timely thriller."
—Booklist
Synopsis
TheBefore I Fallmovie based onLauren Oliver s beloved first noveland starring Zoey Deutch, Halston Sage, and Kian Lawley is opening in theaters in spring 2017.
With this stunning debut novel, New York Times bestselling author Lauren Oliver emerged as one of today's foremost authors of young adult fiction. Like Jay Asher's Thirteen Reasons Why and Gayle Forman's If I Stay, Before I Fall raises thought-provoking questions about love, death, and how one person's life can affect so many others.
For popular high school senior Samantha Kingston, February 12 "Cupid Day" should be one big party, a day of valentines and roses and the privileges that come with being at the top of the social pyramid. And it is until she dies in a terrible accident that night.
However, she still wakes up the next morning. In fact, Sam lives the last day of her life seven times, until she realizes that by making even the slightest changes, she may hold more power than she ever imagined.
Named to numerous state reading lists, this novel was also recognized as a Best Book of the Year by Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble, The Daily Beast, NPR, and Publishers Weekly.
Supports the Common Core State Standards.
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Synopsis
Like Adam Silvera's They Both Die at the End and Colleen Hoover's It Ends with Us, Before I Fall raises thought-provoking questions about love, death, and how one person's life can affect so many others. With this stunning debut novel, New York Times bestselling author Lauren Oliver emerged as one of today's foremost authors of young adult fiction.
For popular high school senior Samantha Kingston, February 12--"Cupid Day"--should be one big party, a day of valentines and roses and the privileges that come with being at the top of the social pyramid. And it is...until she dies in a terrible accident that night.
However, she still wakes up the next morning. In fact, Sam lives the last day of her life seven times, until she realizes that by making even the slightest changes, she may hold more power than she ever imagined.
Before I Fall is now a major motion picture Zoey Deutch, Halston Sage, and Kian Lawley. Named to numerous state reading lists, the novel was also recognized as a Best Book of the Year by Amazon, Barnes & Noble, The Daily Beast, NPR, and Publishers Weekly.
Synopsis
What if you had only one day to live? What would you do? Who would you kiss? And how far would you go to save your own life?
Samantha Kingston has it all: the world's most crush-worthy boyfriend, three amazing best friends, and first pick of everything at Thomas Jefferson High—from the best table in the cafeteria to the choicest parking spot. Friday, February 12, should be just another day in her charmed life.
Instead, it turns out to be her last.
Then she gets a second chance. Seven chances, in fact. Reliving her last day during one miraculous week, she will untangle the mystery surrounding her death—and discover the true value of everything she is in danger of losing.
Synopsis
A poignant story about making peace with the past and opening your heart to love. Seventeen-year-old Holly Mullen has felt lost and lonely ever since her boyfriend, Rob, died in a tragic accident. But she has no idea that as she goes about her days, Robs ghost is watching over her. He isnt happy when he sees his best friend, Jason, trying to get close to Holly—but as a ghost, he can do nothing to stop it. As their uncertain new relationship progresses, the past comes back to haunt Holly and Jason. Her Alzheimers-stricken grandfather claims to be communicating with the ghost of Rob. Could the messages he has for Holly be real? And if so, how can the loved ones Rob left behind help his tortured soul make it to the other side?
Synopsis
What if you could dream your way into a different life? What if you could choose to live that life forever?
Sloane and Maggie have never met. Sloane is a straight-A student with a big and loving family. Maggie lives a glamorously independent life as an up-and-coming actress in New York. The two girls couldn't be more different--except for one thing. They share a secret that they can't tell a soul. At night, they dream that they're each other.
The deeper they're pulled into the promise of their own lives, the more their worlds begin to blur dangerously together. Before long, Sloane and Maggie can no longer tell which life is real and which is just a dream. They realize that eventually they will have to choose one life to wake up to, or risk spiraling into insanity. But that means giving up one world, one love, and one self, forever.
This is a dazzling debut that will steal readers' hearts.
Synopsis
A dying teen learns to live in this heart-wrenching debut, perfect for fans of
If I StayCampbell Cooper has never been in love. And if the doctors are right, she'll never have the chance. So when she's told she needs a miracle, her family moves 1,500 miles north to Promise, Maine--a place where amazing, unexplainable events are said to occur--like it or not. And when a mysterious envelope arrives, containing a list of things for Cam to do before she dies, she finally learns to believe--in love, in herself, and maybe even in miracles, as improbable as they may seem.
Synopsis
What if you could see how your life would unfold--just by clicking a button?
It's 1996, and less than half of all American high school students have ever used the Internet. Emma just got her first computer and an America Online CD-ROM. Josh is her best friend. They power up and log on--and discover themselves on Facebook, fifteen years in the future. Everybody wonders what their destiny will be. Josh and Emma are about to find out.
Synopsis
With this stunning debut novel,
New York Times bestselling author Lauren Oliver emerged as one of today's foremost authors of young adult fiction. Like Jay Asher's
Thirteen Reasons Why and Gayle Forman's
If I Stay,
Before I Fall raises thought-provoking questions about love, death, and how one person's life can affect so many others.
For popular high school senior Samantha Kingston, February 12—"Cupid Day"—should be one big party, a day of valentines and roses and the privileges that come with being at the top of the social pyramid. And it is…until she dies in a terrible accident that night.
However, she still wakes up the next morning. In fact, Sam lives the last day of her life seven times, until she realizes that by making even the slightest changes, she may hold more power than she ever imagined.
Named to numerous state reading lists, this novel was also recognized as a Best Book of the Year by Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble, The Daily Beast, NPR, and Publishers Weekly. It has been optioned for film by Fox 2000 Pictures.
Supports the Common Core State Standards.
Synopsis
In this suspenseful thriller, teenagers in a small town are drawn deeper into a social networking site that promises to grant their every need . . .regardless of the consequences. . .
Synopsis
“No one gets something for nothing. We all should know better.” Teenagers at Wisconsin’s Nottawa High School are drawn deeper into a social networking site that promises to grant their every need . . . regardless of the consequences. Soon the site turns sinister, with simple pranks escalating to malicious crimes. The body count rises. In this chilling YA thriller, the author of the best-selling Testing trilogy examines not only the dark side of social media, but the dark side of human nature.
Synopsis
The love story of Jenny and Billy continues in this captivating sequel to the acclaimed paranormal young adult novel, A Certain Slant of Light.
Synopsis
Helen needed a body to be with her beloved. Jenny had to escape from hers before her spirit was broken. It was wicked, borrowing it, but love drives even the gentlest soul to desperate acts. And Helen, who has returned to help Jenny, finds herself trapped, haunting the girl she wished to save. Jenny and Billy's love story begins out-of-body and continues into the tumultuous realm of the living, where they are torn apart even as they slowly remember falling in love.
About the Author
Lauren Oliver is the author of the YA bestselling novels Before I Fall, Panic, and Vanishing Girls and the Delirium trilogy: Delirium, Pandemonium, and Requiem, which have been translated into more than thirty languages and are New York Times and international bestselling novels. She is also the author of three novels for middle grade readers: The Spindlers; Liesl & Po, which was an E. B. White Read Aloud Award nominee; and Curiosity House: The Shrunken Head, co-written with H. C. Chester, and a novel for adults, Rooms. A graduate of the University of Chicago and NYUs MFA program, Lauren Oliver is also the cofounder of the boutique literary development company Paper Lantern Lit.