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Published Feb 2019
400 pages
Genre: Literary Fiction
Publication Information
From the Morris Award-winning author of The Serpent King comes a contemporary novel about two best friends who must make tough decisions about their futures - and the TV show they host - in their senior year of high school.
Every Friday night, best friends Delia and Josie become Rayne Ravenscroft and Delilah Darkwood, hosts of the campy creature feature show Midnite Matinee on the local cable station TV Six.
But with the end of senior year quickly approaching, the girls face tough decisions about their futures. Josie has been dreading graduation, as she tries to decide whether to leave for a big university and chase her dream career in mainstream TV. And Lawson, one of the show's guest performers, a talented MMA fighter with weaknesses for pancakes, fantasy novels, and Josie, is making her tough decision even harder.
Scary movies are the last connection Delia has to her dad, who abandoned the family years ago. If Midnite Matinee becomes a hit, maybe he'll see it and want to be a part of her life again. And maybe Josie will stay with the show instead of leaving her behind, too.
As the tug-of-war between growing up and growing apart tests the bonds of their friendship, Josie and Delia start to realize that an uncertain future can be both monstrous...and momentous.
"Starred Review. Zentner's quick-witted, charming characters tackle real-life issues with snappy dialogue and engaging levity." - Publishers Weekly
"Starred Review. As in his award-winning The Serpent King (2016), Zentner packs a poignantly satisfying blend of wit and pathos, with lovable and unpredictable characters. ... Readers looking for an unforgettable slice of small-town angst will love this one." - Booklist
"Zentner nails his teen characters, their longings, and their motivations, and the first chapters are downright hilarious." - Kirkus
"I laughed, cried, and fell over-the-moon in love with Rayne & Delilah's Midnite Matinee." - Jennifer Niven, New York Times bestselling author of All the Bright Places and Holding Up the Universe
"A testament to the power of friendship and big dreams, Rayne & Delilah's Midnite Matinee had me laughing aloud on one page and sobbing on the next. A resounding triumph." - Nic Stone, New York Times bestselling author of Dear Martin
"Rayne & Delilah's Midnite Matinee starts as comedy about the wildly imperfect, and ends as poetry about the ever-hoping heart. I don't know how you write that book. Fortunately, Jeff Zentner does." - Jesse Andres, New York Times bestselling author of Me and Earl and the Dying Girl
This information about Rayne & Delilah's Midnite Matinee was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Jeff Zentner is the author of New York Times Notable Book The Serpent King, Goodbye Days, and Rayne & Delilah's Midnite Matinee. He has won the William C. Morris Award, the Amelia Elizabeth Walden Award, the International Literacy Association Award, and the Westchester Fiction Award. He's a two-time Southern Book Prize finalist, been longlisted for the Carnegie Medal and UKLA, and was a finalist for the Indies Choice Award. He was selected as a Publishers Weekly Flying Start and an Indies Introduce pick. His books have been translated into fifteen languages. Before becoming a writer, he was a musician who recorded with Iggy Pop, Nick Cave, and Debbie Harry. He lives in Nashville, Tennessee.
He came to writing through music, starting his creative life as a guitarist and eventually ...
... Full Biography
Author Interview
Link to Jeff Zentner's Website
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