Synopses & Reviews
In the latest hard-hitting YA novel by the
New York Times bestselling author, 16-year-old identical twin girls must come to terms with their abusive father.
Kaeleigh and Raeanne are 16-year-old identical twins, the daughters of a district court judge father and politician mother running for Congress. Everything on the surface of their lives seems Norman Rockwell perfect, but underneath run deep and damaging secrets.
Kaeleigh is the good girl--her father's perfect flower, something she has tried so hard to be since she was nine and he started sexually abusing her. She cuts herself and vomits after every binge, desperate to feel something normal. Raeanne uses painkillers, drugs, alcohol, and sex to numb the pain of not being Daddy's favorite. Both girls must figure out how to become whole, but how can they when their world has been torn to shreds?
Writing in her characteristic narrative poetry style, Ellen Hopkins shows once again how well she knows today's teens and the issues that matter to them.
Review
Hopkins's gift with free verse reaches new heights in this portrait of splintered identical twins. . . . Kaeleigh and Raeanne maintain distinct voices throughout as they wrestle with psychic damage and an astonishing, devastating realization. Sharp and stunning, with a brilliant final page. [starred review]
Kirkus Reviews Kirkus Reviews
Review
Hopkins's verse is not only lean and sinuous, it also demonstrates a mastery of technique. [starred review] The Trades
Review
"A powerful interpretation of an emotional story."
Review
"Hopkins' word sculpture and verse patterns are just as keen as ever, creating shapes and secret messages. . . One thing is for certain--you won't soon forget this story."
--The Trades
Synopsis
Kaeleigh and Raeanne are 16-year-old identical twins, the daughters of a district court judge father and politician mother running for US Congress. Everything on the surface seems fine, but underneath run very deep anddamaging secrets. When the girls were 9, Daddy started to turn to his beloved Kaeleigh in ways a father never should and has been sexually abusing her foryears. For Raeanne, she needs to numb the pain of not being Daddyand#8217;s favorite; for Kaeleigh, she wants to do everything she can to
feel something normal, even if it means cutting herself and vomiting after every binge.
How Kaeleigh and Raeanne figure out just what it means to be whole again when their entire world has been torn to shreds is the guts and heart of this powerful, disturbing, and utterly remarkable book.
Synopsis
Do twins begin in the womb? Or in a better place?
Kaeleigh and Raeanne are identical down to the dimple. As daughters of a district-court judge father and a politician mother, they are an all-American family--on the surface. Behind the façade each sister has her own dark secret, and that's where their differences begin.
For Kaeleigh, she's the misplaced focus of Daddy's love, intended for a mother whose presence on the campaign trail means absence at home. All that Raeanne sees is Daddy playing a game of favorites--and she is losing. If she has to lose, she will do it on her own terms, so she chooses drugs, alcohol, and sex.
Secrets like the ones the twins are harboring are not meant to be kept--from each other or anyone else. Pretty soon it's obvious that neither sister can handle it alone, and one sister must step up to save the other, but the question is--who?
About the Author
LAURA FLANAGAN has numerous regional theater, Off-Broadway and Off-Off Broadway credits, including an Obie award for Salt Theater's New York production of "The Cherry Orchard" and the Charles Bowden award for Acting from New Dramatists in New York. Originally from Berkeley, CA, she now lives in Silverlake, CA with her family.ELLEN HOPKINS is the New York Times bestselling author of Crank, Burned, Impulse, and Glass. She lives in Carson City, Nevada, with her husband and son.