Cures for Heartbreak

Margo Rabb’s critically acclaimed debut novel Cures for Heartbreak―a somber yet humorous depiction of love, loss, and new beginnings―has been reissued with a stunning new look.

Less than two weeks after fifteen-year-old Mia Pearlman’s mother is diagnosed with cancer, she dies, leaving Mia, her older sister, and their father to face this sudden and unfathomable loss. As Mia struggles to navigate her grief, she’s also forced to examine the truth about her parents’ rocky marriage, her unexpected feelings for a guy with leukemia, and the nagging health phobias that plague her on a daily basis. Ultimately, her journey down this road slowly paves the way for hope amid immeasurable loss.

In this heartfelt novel that Michael Chabon called “sad, funny, smart, and endlessly poignant,” Margo Rabb dives deep into the complicated emotions that befall a family after the death of a loved one.

Mia’s world has been turned upside down, and every day brings a new kind of heartbreak—and a new reason to find a cure.

• Complicated Sisterhood: Mia and her older sister Alex are united by grief but divided by everything else. Their shared loss might be the one thing that tears them apart for good.
• An Unexpected First Love: In the midst of tragedy, Mia develops feelings for a boy with leukemia, forcing her to confront life and love when it feels like death is everywhere.
• Overcoming Anxiety: From a terror of weird moles to a library of disease books, Mia battles the nagging health phobias that threaten to take over her life after her mother’s death.
• A New Kind of Family: With their family fractured, Mia and her grieving father must find a new way to be there for each other, even when they can barely keep themselves afloat.

Margo Rabb is the author of the novels Kissing in America and Cures for Heartbreak; both received four starred reviews and were named to multiple best-of-the-year lists. Her essays and short stories have appeared in the New York Times, The Atlantic, and Seventeen and have been broadcast on NPR. She received the grand prize in the Zoetrope short story contest, first prize in the Atlantic fiction contest, and a PEN Syndicated Fiction Project Award. Margo grew up in Queens, NY, and currently lives near Philadelphia with her family. Visit her online at www.margorabb.com.