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Plum Coyle is on the edge of adolescence. Her fourteenth birthday is approaching, when her old life and her old body will fall away, and she will become graceful, powerful, and at ease. The strength of the objects she stores in a briefcase under her bed —a crystal lamb, a yoyo, an antique watch, a coin —will make sure of it. Over the next couple of weeks, Plum’s life will change. Her beautiful neighbor Maureen will begin to show Plum how she might fly. The older brothers she adores will court catastrophe in worlds that she barely knows exist. And her friends, her worst enemies, will tease and test, smelling weakness. They will try to lead her on and take her down.
"Suffused with the helpless shame of being unable to soothe the private sadness of loved ones, this is another strong addition to Hartnett's impressive bibliography. Grades 8-12." - Booklist
"Deeply discomfiting and artful in its use of language...will captivate sophisticated readers, but it likely won't be for everyone." - Kirkus
"Starred Review. It would be easy to dismiss Hartnett's story as misanthropic, yet it's not so much contemptuous of humanity than of what it has become. Ages 14–up." - Publishers Weekly
"Starred Review. The deliberate pacing, insight into teen angst, and masterful word choice make this a captivating read to savor." - School Library Journal
This information about Butterfly 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.
Sonya Hartnett is the winner of the 2008 Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award, the world’s largest award for lifetime achievement in children’s and youth literature. She lives in Australia.
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