Product Details
Simon Pulse, June 2011
Hardcover, 464 pages
ISBN-10: 1442419954
ISBN-13: 9781442419957
Grades: 11 and up
Read an Excerpt
Chapter 1
Description
Seventeen-year-old Lochan and sixteen-year-old Maya have always felt more like friends than siblings. Together they have stepped in for their alcoholic, wayward mother to take care of their three younger siblings. As defacto parents to the little ones, Lochan and Maya have had to grow up fast. And the stress of their lives--and the way they understand each other so completely--has also also brought them closer than two siblings would ordinarily be. So close, in fact, that they have fallen in love. Their clandestine romance quickly blooms into deep, desperate love. They know their relationship is wrong and cannot possibly continue. And yet, they cannot stop what feels so incredibly right. As the novel careens toward an explosive and shocking finale, only one thing is certain: a love this devastating has no happy ending.
Read more:
Chapter 1"Ms. Suzuma’s ability to dig so deeply into the various layers of human need and desire across several strata--physical, emotional, situational--renders a cringe-worthy premise another human experience to evaluate. The poignant and shocking ending will leave the reader pondering this story long after the final page is turned."
-- New York Journal of Books
"The novel’s surprises continue to the very end, and the secondary characters are well developed, including the needy younger siblings, who are shown in all their anger, sweetness, and rebellion. Most of all, though, it’s Lochan’s and Maya’s alternating first-person, present-tense narratives, both tender and heartbreaking, that will stay with readers."
-- Booklist
"There is nothing about this novel that is easy, but readers who snag the book for the controversy will stick around for the polished writing and compelling character development."
-- BCCB
