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Your next favorite book
is waiting.
by Sarah Darer Littman
What happens when friendship goes too far?
Tenth grade isn't going according to plan for Lainey. Her twin brother moved across the country to live with their dad and stepmom, leaving Lainey — and her anxiety — behind. And Lainey's starting to realize that maybe most of her friends were really her brother's friends. Thank god for Bliss.
Bliss is navigating her own tough sophomore year, determined to find her place. But no matter what's going on in her life, Bliss is really good about being there for Lainey. She's confident and fearless, all that Lainey wishes she could be. It seems like Bliss is getting everything she's ever wanted, including a new boyfriend and becoming the first wheelchair user to land a lead role in the school production.
What no one knows is that Bliss is struggling. At school it feels like everyone is always watching her, and at home, she's overwhelmed by her parents' expectations. When things get worse for Bliss, Lainey stops hearing from her completely. Panicked that something awful has happened, Lainey rushes to find out what's going on. But when Lainey arrives at Bliss's apartment, nothing is what it seems, and everything Lainey thought she knew about her friend is a lie...
"A gripping cautionary tale." —Kirkus Reviews
This information about Influenced 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.
Sarah Darer Littman is the Sydney Taylor Honor author of Some Kind of Hate; Deepfake, Backlash; Want to Go Private?; Anything But Okay; In Case You Missed It; Life, After; and Purge. Together with Cindy L. Otis, she has written Influenced. Sarah is also an award-winning news columnist and teaches writing at Western Connecticut State University and with the Yale Writers' Workshop. She lives in Connecticut with her family in a house that never seems to have enough bookshelves. You can visit her online at sarahdarerlittman.com.
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