Althea & Oliver - Softcover

Moracho, Cristina

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0142424765 ISBN 13: 9780142424766

Publisher: Speak, 2016

Synopsis

"The bittersweet romance, Oliver’s battle with his illness, and Althea’s coming-of-age struggle should appeal to fans of John Green and Sarah Dessen who are looking for something new." —VOYA

Althea Carter and Oliver McKinley have been best friends since they were six. Now, as their junior year of high school comes to a close, Althea has begun to want something more. Oliver simply wants life to go back to normal, but when he wakes up one morning with no memory of the past three weeks, he can’t deny any longer that something is seriously wrong with him. Then Althea makes the worst decision ever, and her relationship with Oliver is shattered. When he leaves town for a clinical study in New York, she drives up the coast after him, determined to make up for what she’s done.

Cristina Moracho’s extraordinary debut is an achingly real story about identity, illness, and love—and how one decision can change everything.

A TIME Magazine Top 10 YA of 2014 ~ An SLJ Best Books of the Year ~ A Booklist Editor's Choice 2014 ~ A Kirkus Reviews Best Books of 2014
"Fans of Rainbow Rowell's Eleanor and Park will enjoy debut author Cristina Moracho’s trip back to the 1990s in Althea and Oliver." —CNN.com

"A gut-wrenching tale." —People

* "Moracho’s coming-of-age story carries rare insight and a keen understanding of those verging on adulthood." —Booklist, starred review

* "Mesmerizing." —Kirkus Reviews, starred review

About this title

About the Author:

This is Cristina Moracho's first novel. She lives in Brooklyn, New York and tweets at @cherielecrivain.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.:

“It wasn’t exactly how I pictured it, either,” Althea shouts back. Her legs are shaking. “How do you think I feel? Do you think that’s what I wanted?”
            “Then why did you do it?”
            Althea stares at him, knowing if he even has to ask, it’s already over, she’s already lost. “I don’t think I could have stopped it. And if you could remember, you would know what I mean, and you would know that I’m right.”
            Releasing her, he takes a step back, shaking his head. There’s gravel in his voice, a roughness she’s never heard before. “I’ll tell you what I know. This, you and me, this is all just geography. If it had been some other little girl who grew up down the block from me, I would have been her best friend for ten years, too, until I realized one day that I wasn’t sure I even liked her very much. You’re like an incumbent president that no one can stand but you get reelected anyway, you have the advantage because you’re already in and when someone’s in it’s so much harder to get them out.”

About this edition

• Publisher: Speak
• Publication date: 2016
• ISBN 10: 0142424765
• ISBN 13: 9780142424766
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 400