Over You - Hardcover

Reed, Amy

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1442456965 ISBN 13: 9781442456969

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2013

Synopsis

An intense friendship fractures in this gritty, realistic novel from the author of Beautiful, Clean, and Crazy, which School Library Journal called “compelling and moving.”

Max would follow Sadie anywhere, so when Sadie decides to ditch her problems and escape to Nebraska for the summer, it’s only natural for Max to go along. Max is Sadie’s confidante, her protector, and her best friend. This summer will be all about them. This summer will be perfect.

And then they meet Dylan. Dylan is dark, dangerous, and intoxicating, and he awakens something in Max that she never knew existed. No matter how much she wants to, she can’t back away from him.

But Sadie has her own intensity, and has never allowed Max to become close with anyone else. Max doesn’t know who she is without Sadie, but she’d better start learning. Because if she doesn’t make a decision—about Dylan, about Sadie, about herself—it’s going to be made for her.

About this title

About the Author

Amy Reed is the author of the contemporary young adult novels Beautiful, Clean, Crazy, Over You, Damaged, Invincible, Unforgivable, The Nowhere Girls, and The Boy and Girl Who Broke the World. She is also the editor of Our Stories, Our Voices. She is a feminist, mother, and quadruple Virgo who enjoys running, making lists, and wandering around the mountains of western North Carolina where she lives. You can find her online at AmyReedFiction.com.

Reviews

Gr 9 Up-After a few alcohol-fueled brushes with danger in Seattle, best friends Sadie and Max go to live on an organic farm commune in Nebraska with Sadie's mom for the summer before their senior year. Reliable and protective Max acts as a caregiver for wild-child Sadie. But when Sadie contracts mono and is quarantined for weeks, Max learns how to come out of her friend's shadow, and she even flirts with Dylan, the farm's bad boy. The rhythm and routine of daily farm chores help her begin to forget about her shattered home life. When Sadie recovers, Max is unwilling to go back to their old dynamics and tension grows between them. A life-threatening incident during a tornado forces Max to realize that her friendship with Sadie has run its course; she returns to Seattle to be by her drug-addicted mother's bedside. Sections between chapters relate tales about the flaws and faults of ancient gods and goddesses, which set the stage for the events to occur in the upcoming chapters. Reed keeps readers guessing about the true nature of Max and Sadie's relationship for some time. And while early on Max informs readers that she is bisexual-a fact referenced at various points during the story-her sexuality never becomes a focal point of the story. Overall, this is a captivating novel that will compel teens to reflect on the nature of their friendships.-Nicole Knott, Watertown High School, CTα(c) Copyright 2013. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Max, a responsible 17-year-old, has always taken care of her erratic best friend, Sadie. When Sadie decides to spend the summer at a farming commune in the middle of nowhere in Nebraska, Max figures that she had better come, too. The girls are looking forward to their time together. Then they meet smoldering Dylan, who takes an interest in Max, and Sadie becomes threatened. Who will Max choose? At first, this seems as if it will be about Sadie’s growth, but readers will be pleasantly surprised when it’s quiet, kind Max who becomes empowered. This is a win for Reed, who delivers a fresh teen voice and an unexpected setting, both of which combine for an unpredictable read. Grades 8-10. --Bethany Fort

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Over You ’Άρειος WAR
The story of Troy was never about the wooden horse. That is only what people want to remember, something tangible and easy to imagine, something children can build with the popsicle sticks in their minds, then shove full of plastic warriors. The story people know goes like this: a gate, opened; the horse thrown inside; an explosion of violence accompanied by a soundtrack of killing, dying, and victory.

But the horse was only ever just a prop, something to hold the imagination, something simple to focus on instead of what the war, what any war, is really about. The horse was not full of soldiers but hopes and dreams and fears and secrets, all the things tucked inside the hearts of people who are lost. The story started long before that, with the gods and their eternal bickering, their jealousy and revenge and desire and all the other dysfunctions they passed onto their children, cursing man to a life of eternal wandering.

Heroes claim all sorts of things, but their journeys are never all that complicated. They pound their chests and show off their bloody trophies, but no one ever really remembers why they fight. They say it was about a woman, or land, or honor, or God, but in the end it is always about one thing—paradise—losing it and wanting it, finding it and defending it, and yearning, always yearning, for somewhere or something or someone that will make them feel whole.

Home. That is what the hero is always searching for. Sometimes other words are substituted. Love, for instance. Or God. But these are just other ways of saying “home.”

Edition details

• Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
• Publication date: 2013
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1442456965
• ISBN 13: 9781442456969
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 320