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If life were fair, Jam Gallahue would still be at home in New Jersey with her sweet British boyfriend, Reeve Maxfield. She'd be watching old comedy sketches with him. She'd be kissing him in the library stacks. She certainly wouldn't be at The Wooden Barn, a therapeutic boarding school in rural Vermont, living with a weird roommate, and signed up for an exclusive, mysterious class called Special Topics in English.
But life isn't fair, and Reeve Maxfield is dead.
Until a journal-writing assignment leads Jam to Belzhar, where the untainted past is restored, and Jam can feel Reeve's arms around her once again. But there are hidden truths on Jam's path to reclaim her loss.
From New York Times bestselling author Meg Wolitzer comes a breathtaking and surprising story about first love, deep sorrow, and the power of acceptance.
BookBrowse Review
I was really excited about Meg Wolitzer's foray into young adult fiction, but stock characters with manufactured emotions in a trite, derivative story that doesn't ring true on many levels make this disappointing novel difficult to recommend to either teens or adults.
Other Reviews
"Starred Review. Making her YA debut, acclaimed author Wolitzer writes crisply and sometimes humorously about sadness, guilt, and anger…Ages 14 and up." - Publishers Weekly
"Starred Review. Wolitzer spins a smart and engrossing tale of trauma, trust, and triumph...Exploring the themes of self-reflection and the recurring notion that "words matter" make this title a perfect choice for book groups and discussions." - School Library Journal
"Starred Review. An enticing blend of tragedy, poetry, surrealism and redemption. Ages 12-16." - Kirkus
This information about Belzhar 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.
Photo: Deborah Copaken Kogan
Meg Wolitzer's novels include The Interestings; The Uncoupling; The Ten-Year Nap; The Position; and The Wife. She is also the author of a novel for young readers, The Fingertips of Duncan Dorfman. Wolitzer's short fiction has appeared in The Best American Short Stories and The Pushcart Prize. In September 2013, along with singer-songwriter Suzzy Roche, she was the guest artist in the Princeton Atelier program at Princeton University.
If you liked Belzhar, try these:
by Catherine Newman
Published 2023
For lovers of Meg Wolitzer, Maria Semple, and Jenny Offill comes this raucous, poignant celebration of life, love, and friendship at its imperfect and radiant best.
by Yvonne Woon
Published 2023
Yvonne Woon, author of If You, Then Me, has crafted a slow-burn thriller about fixing—our friends, ourselves, and our complicated pasts. For fans of Allegedly and We Were Liars, My Flawless Life features a compelling narrator who grapples with the secrets of her private school classmates as well as her own life.
by Luke Allnutt
Published 2019
A triumphant story about love, loss and finding hope - against all odds.
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