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Published in USA
Sep 2011
416 pages
Genre: Novels
Publication Information
If someone hurts your sister and you're any kind of man, you seek revenge.
If your brother's accused of a terrible crime but says he didn't do it, you defend him.
When Mikey's sister claims a boy assaulted her, his world begins to fall apart. When Ellie's brother is charged with the offense, her world begins to unravel. When Mikey and Ellie meet, two worlds collide.
This is a brave and unflinching novel from the bestselling author of Before I Die. It's a book about loyalty and the choices that come with it. But above all, it's a book about love.
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"Starred Review. Well-drawn characters allow readers to sympathize with nearly everyone...With no tidy solutions, it's an unflinching portrayal of love under pressure. Ages 14+" - Publishers Weekly
"Starred Review. Crisp, revealing dialogue, measured pacing and candid, unaffected prose round out this illuminating novel in which any reader can find someone to root for or relate to. Ages 14+" - Kirkus
"Downham's strength here is in allowing for plenty of moral ambiguity…Most daringly, especially in contrast to the often simplistic portrayal of situations like these, Downham also shows Mikey and Ellie acting on their own dark impulses." - The New York Times, Emily Bazelon
"Starred Review. This excellent sophomore effort from the author of Before I Die (2007) should have broad appeal for teens looking for weighty issues tied to their romance. Grades 8-12." - Booklist
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Jenny Downham (born 1964) is a British novelist and an ex-actor. Her first book, Before I Die, the fictional account of the last few months of a sixteen-year-old girl who has been dying of leukemia for four years, is told in the first person. The book was acclaimed and was short-listed for the 2007 Guardian Award and the 2008 Lancashire Children's Book of the Year, nominated for the 2008 Carnegie Medal and the 2008 Booktrust Teenage Prize, and won the 2008 Branford Boase Award.
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