September 2015 NewGen Debut of the Month.
A great new debut about the thrill and heartbreak that happens when we break out of our shell to do crazy, sometimes death-defying things for love.
“Love makes people crazy,” observes Maddy, the eighteen-year-old protagonist of this remarkable debut. It’s “worth everything. Everything.” Exploring the risks we'll take for love, and to protect those we've given our hearts to, Maddy’s story is utterly unforgettable. Since she was an infant, Maddy’s world has been confined to the books she devours, her devoted doctor mom and her loveable full-time nurse, Carla. For seventeen years, she’s lived with Severe Combined Immunodeficiency, or ‘bubble baby disease’, which means venturing outside could trigger fatal allergic reactions. But everything changes when a new family moves into her Californian neighbourhood, and Maddy is inexorably drawn to the enigmatic, black-clad Olly. They strike up a relationship, initially via instant messaging and then in person, when Maddy persuades Carla to allow Olly into their air-sealed house. He’s the biggest risk she's ever taken, Maddy comments. And Olly likens her to a fairy tale heroine, shut away like Rapunzel, except in Maddy’s case being rescued by a prince could kill her. But the deeper they fall in love, the more necessary it becomes for Maddy to take these risks. They share their first kiss and, “just like that, everything changes,” so much so, Maddy feels ready to risk everything to realise a lifelong dream with the person she loves.
With enriching illustrations by the author's husband, David Yoon, himself a designer and writer, this is a heartrending, sparkling jewel of a novel, and its subtly-laid twist will take your breath away. - Joanne Owen
EXCITING NEWS - Ahead even of publication MGM has optioned the rights to this novel by debut author Nicola Yoon. The story centres on a 17-year-old girl who suffers from severe combined immune-deficiency, which leaves her housebound. J Mills Goodloe, the screenwriter for Age of Adaline starring Blake Lively and upcoming The Mountains Between Us (Rosamund Pike and Charlie Hunnam), will adapt the novel into a screenplay. MGM has a successful track record of adapting YA novels, including its partnership with New Line on If I Stay, starring Chloe Grace Moritz.
Zoella Book Club title Summer 16
| Primary Genre | Young Adult Fiction |
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