The Blonde Dies First - Hardcover

Wellington, Joelle

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1665922451 ISBN 13: 9781665922456

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2024

Synopsis

A group of friends fight to choose their own fates when faced with a demonic force that acts according to horror movie rules in this trope-savvy, “script-flipping hair-raiser” (Publishers Weekly) from the acclaimed author of Their Vicious Games.

Devon is always being left behind by her genius twin sister, Drew. At this point, it’s a fact of life. But Devon has one last plan before Drew leaves for college a whole year early—The Best Summer Ever. After committing to the bit a little too much, the twins and their chaotic circle of friends learn why you don’t ever mess with a Ouija board if you want to actually survive the Best Summer Ever, and soon find themselves being hunted down by…a demon?

But while there’s no mistaking the creeping, venomous figure is not from around here, their method doesn’t feel very demonic at all. In fact, it’s downright human—going after them in typical slasher movie kill order. And that means Devon, the blonde, is up first and her decade-long crush, Yaya, is the Final Girl who must kill or be killed to end the cycle.

Devon has never liked playing by anyone else’s rules though, not even a demon’s, and the longer this goes on, the more she feels Drew and Yaya slipping away from her even as she tries to help them all survive. Can they use their horror movie knowledge to flip the script and become the hunters instead of the hunted? Or will their best summer ever be their last?

About this title

About the Author

Joelle Wellington grew up in Brooklyn, New York, where her childhood was spent wandering the main branch of the Brooklyn Public Library. Her love of the written word led her to a BA in creative writing and international studies. When she isn’t writing, she’s reading and when she’s not doing that, she’s attempting to bake bread with varying degrees of success or strengthening her encyclopedia-like pop culture knowledge. She’s the author of Their Vicious Games, The Blonde Dies First, and Girls Who Play Dead.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Chapter One The Best Summer EverTM

1. 1. Go to one of Drew’s friends’ parties. Bring the crew. Remind Gael to not be a piece of shit. Remind friends to be friendly.
2. 2. Go to the Prospect Park Zoo. (We’ve never been, it’d be funny.) Drew likes animals—maybe interested in zoology? [NOTE: What DOES Drew want to do in college? Ask, maybe?]
3. 3. Ride the carousel at Brooklyn Bridge Park like we used to.
4. 4. Make nice with Alexis so that Mr. Ahmed doesn’t have to tell me off for making her cry again ? parents won’t be mad at me for Alexis’s snitching to her mom ? shows Drew I can just ignore Alexis like she’s always telling me to.
5. 5. Girls’ night at Movies-in-the-Park biweekly. (Checked the schedule and there’s a summer series of rom-coms. W!)
6. 6. Vet each and every one of Malachi’s dates—no repeats of what happened last summer. Be on Malachi shift with Drew?
7. 7. Make the Block Party the best Block Party ever. It’s Drew’s last one (maybe).
8. 8. Don’t. Fight. With. Drew.

Edition details

• Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
• Publication date: 2024
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1665922451
• ISBN 13: 9781665922456
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 336