{"id":142,"date":"2023-11-11T19:30:04","date_gmt":"2023-11-11T19:30:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ellenhopkinsbooks.com\/?page_id=142"},"modified":"2023-11-28T02:09:22","modified_gmt":"2023-11-28T02:09:22","slug":"closer-to-nowhere","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/ellenhopkinsbooks.com\/?page_id=142","title":{"rendered":"Closer to Nowhere"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"ABOUT THE BOOK<\/span><\/h3>\n

For the most part, Hannah’s life is just how she wants it. She has two supportive parents, she’s popular at school, and she’s been killing it at gymnastics. But when her cousin Cal moves in with her family, everything changes. Cal tells half-truths and tall tales, pranks Hannah constantly, and seems to be the reason her parents are fighting more and more. Nothing is how it used to be. She knows that Cal went through a lot after his mom died and she is trying to be patient, but most days Hannah just wishes Cal never moved in.<\/p>\n

For his part, Cal is trying his hardest to fit in, but not everyone is as appreciative of his unique sense of humor and storytelling gifts as he is. Humor and stories might be his defense mechanism, but if Cal doesn’t let his walls down soon, he might push away the very people who are trying their best to love him.<\/p>\n

Told in verse from the alternating perspectives of Hannah and Cal, this is a story of two cousins who are more alike than they realize and the family they both want to save.<\/p>\n

PRIASE FOR CLOSER TO NOWHERE<\/span><\/h3>\n
\n

A 2022-2023 Truman Readers Book Award Nominee (MO)
\nA 2022-2023 South Carolina Book Award Nominee
\nA 2021 Bank Street Best Children\u2019s Book of the Year
\nA 2021 NCTE Notable Novel in Verse
\nAn Amazon Best Book of the Month<\/p>\n

\u2605 \u201cReaders will root for these realistic characters, and will cheer for the growth they experience. Highly recommended.\u201d \u2014School Library Journal, starred review<\/p>\n

\u201cHopkins\u2019 use of free verse provides a canvas for sure-handed, brush-stroke development of the backstory and plot and emotional investment and identification with the characters. . . Compassionate and compelling.\u201d \u2014Kirkus Reviews<\/p>\n

\u201cHopkins uses her familiar verse to take readers on an emotional rollercoaster. . . The author\u2019s note about her own family experiences with addiction and behavioral challenges is almost as poignant as the text, and the quick pace makes it easy to devour, enticing fans to check out the rest of Hopkins\u2019 oeuvre.\u201d \u2014The Bulletin of the Center for Children\u2019s Books<\/p>\n

\u201cHopkins creates realistic portrayals of two kids trying to do their best even when it\u2019s not easy.\u201d \u2014Publishers Weekly<\/p>\n

\u201cThe queen of gritty YA novels-in-verse enters the realm of middle-grade literature with this story of a family fracturing under myriad pressures yet refusing to be broken . . . Hopkins paints a realistic picture of a family undergoing upheaval and learning to better care for one another.\u201d \u2014Booklist<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

ABOUT THE BOOK For the most part, Hannah’s life is just how she wants it. She has two supportive parents, she’s popular at school, and she’s been killing it at gymnastics. But when her cousin Cal moves in with her family, everything changes. Cal tells half-truths and tall tales, pranks Hannah constantly, and seems to be the reason her parents are fighting more and more. Nothing is how it used to be. She knows that Cal went through a lot after his mom died and she is trying to be patient, but most days Hannah just wishes Cal never moved in. For his part, Cal is trying his hardest to fit in, but not everyone is as appreciative of his unique sense of humor and storytelling gifts as he is. Humor and stories might be his defense mechanism, but if Cal doesn’t let his walls down soon, he might push away the very people who are trying their best to love him. Told in verse from the alternating perspectives of Hannah and Cal, this is a story of two cousins who are more alike than they realize and the family they both want to save. PRIASE FOR CLOSER TO NOWHERE A 2022-2023 Truman Readers Book Award Nominee (MO) A 2022-2023 South Carolina Book Award Nominee A 2021 Bank Street Best Children\u2019s Book of the Year A 2021 NCTE Notable Novel in Verse An Amazon Best Book of the Month \u2605 \u201cReaders will root for these realistic characters, and will cheer for the growth they experience. Highly recommended.\u201d \u2014School Library Journal, starred review \u201cHopkins\u2019 use of free verse provides a canvas for sure-handed, brush-stroke development of the backstory and plot and emotional investment and identification with the characters. . . Compassionate and compelling.\u201d \u2014Kirkus Reviews \u201cHopkins uses her familiar verse to take readers on an emotional rollercoaster. . . The author\u2019s note about her own family experiences with addiction and behavioral challenges is almost as poignant as the text, and the quick pace makes it easy to devour, enticing fans to check out the rest of Hopkins\u2019 oeuvre.\u201d \u2014The Bulletin of the Center for Children\u2019s Books \u201cHopkins creates realistic portrayals of two kids trying to do their best even when it\u2019s not easy.\u201d \u2014Publishers Weekly \u201cThe queen of gritty YA novels-in-verse enters the realm of middle-grade literature with this story of a family fracturing under myriad pressures yet refusing to be broken . . . Hopkins paints a realistic picture of a family undergoing upheaval and learning to better care for one another.\u201d \u2014Booklist<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-142","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ellenhopkinsbooks.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/142","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ellenhopkinsbooks.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ellenhopkinsbooks.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ellenhopkinsbooks.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ellenhopkinsbooks.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=142"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/ellenhopkinsbooks.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/142\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":431,"href":"https:\/\/ellenhopkinsbooks.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/142\/revisions\/431"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ellenhopkinsbooks.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=142"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}