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ABOUT THE BOOK<\/h3>\nABOUT THE BOOK<\/h3>\nHow do you live your life if your past is based on a lie? Find out in this \u201csatisfied and moving story\u201d (Publishers Weekly, starred review) in both verse and prose from #1 New York Times bestselling author, Ellen Hopkins.<\/p>\n
For as long as she can remember, it\u2019s been just Ariel and Dad. Ariel\u2019s mom disappeared when she was a baby. Dad says home is wherever the two of them are, but Ariel is now seventeen and after years of new apartments, new schools, and new faces, all she wants is to put down some roots. Complicating things are Monica and Gabe, both of whom have stirred a different kind of desire.<\/p>\n
Maya\u2019s a teenager who\u2019s run from an abusive mother right into the arms of an older man she thinks she can trust. But now she\u2019s isolated with a baby on the way, and life\u2019s getting more complicated than Maya ever could have imagined.<\/p>\n
Ariel and Maya\u2019s lives collide unexpectedly when Ariel\u2019s mother shows up out of the blue with wild accusations: Ariel wasn\u2019t abandoned. Her father kidnapped her fourteen years ago.<\/p>\n
In bestselling author Ellen Hopkins\u2019s deft hands, Ariel\u2019s emotionally charged journey to find out the truth of who she really is balances beautifully with Maya\u2019s story of loss and redemption. This is a memorable portrait of two young women trying to make sense of their lives and coming face to face with themselves\u2014for both the last and the very first time.<\/p>\n
TO BEGIN<\/p>\n
Oh, to be given the gifts
\nof the chameleon!<\/p>\n
Not only the ability
\nto match the vital fa\u00e7ade
\nto circumstance at will,<\/p>\n
but also the capacity
\nto see in two directions
\nsimultaneously.<\/p>\n
Left. Right.
\nForward. Backward.<\/p>\n
How much gentler
\nour time on this planet,
\nand how much more<\/p>\n
certain of our place
\nin the world we would be,
\ndrawing comfort<\/p>\n
like water from the wells
\nof our homes.
\n<\/p><\/div><\/div>\n
Home is more
\nthan a leak-free roof
\nand insulated walls
\nthat keep you warm
\nwhen the winter wind screams
\nand cool when summer
\nstomps all over you.<\/p>\n
Home is a clearing
\nin the forest,
\na safe place to run
\nwhen the trees shutter
\nall light and the crunch
\nof leaves in deepening darkness
\ndrills fear into your heart.<\/p>\n
Home is someone
\nor two who accepts you
\nfor the person you believe
\nyou are, and if that happens
\nto change, embraces the person
\nyou ultimately find yourself to be.
\nthe monster.<\/p><\/div><\/div>\n
Once again tackling difficult subject matter through elegantly crafted free verse, Hopkins (Traffick) tells the story of 17-year-old Ariel; her father, Mark; and Maya, also 17, who jumps into a relationship with an older man to escape her mother. Mark is an alcoholic drifter, prone to angry and violent outbursts. He has finally settled down long enough for Ariel to finish an entire school year in Sonora, Calif., where Ariel has allowed herself to develop real friendships and even consider the possibility of finding love. Hopkins uses spare yet poignant language to convey Ariel\u2019s simultaneous joy and fear as she begins to explore her sexuality (\u201cthe need to embrace\/ this part of myself\/ is escalating\u201d) while dealing with an abusive, homophobic, and controlling parent. Maya, whose chapters are written in first-person prose, intersects with Mark and Ariel\u2019s lives in an unexpected way, deepening the story\u2019s exploration of identity. Hopkins creates a satisfying and moving story, and her carefully structured poems ensure that each word and phrase is savored. Ages 14\u2013up. Agent: Laura Rennert, Andrea Brown Literary. (Jan.) \u2014Publishers Weekly<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
ABOUT THE BOOK How do you live your life if your past is based on a lie? Find out in this \u201csatisfied and moving story\u201d (Publishers Weekly, starred review) in both verse and prose from #1 New York Times bestselling author, Ellen Hopkins. For as long as she can remember, it\u2019s been just Ariel and Dad. Ariel\u2019s mom disappeared when she was a baby. Dad says home is wherever the two of them are, but Ariel is now seventeen and after years of new apartments, new schools, and new faces, all she wants is to put down some roots. Complicating things are Monica and Gabe, both of whom have stirred a different kind of desire. Maya\u2019s a teenager who\u2019s run from an abusive mother right into the arms of an older man she thinks she can trust. But now she\u2019s isolated with a baby on the way, and life\u2019s getting more complicated than Maya ever could have imagined. Ariel and Maya\u2019s lives collide unexpectedly when Ariel\u2019s mother shows up out of the blue with wild accusations: Ariel wasn\u2019t abandoned. Her father kidnapped her fourteen years ago. In bestselling author Ellen Hopkins\u2019s deft hands, Ariel\u2019s emotionally charged journey to find out the truth of who she really is balances beautifully with Maya\u2019s story of loss and redemption. This is a memorable portrait of two young women trying to make sense of their lives and coming face to face with themselves\u2014for both the last and the very first time. BOOK EXCERPT YOU KNOW MY STORY REVIEW FOR THE YOU I’VE NEVER KNOWN REVIEWS FROM PUBLISHERS WEEKLY: Once again tackling difficult subject matter through elegantly crafted free verse, Hopkins (Traffick) tells the story of 17-year-old Ariel; her father, Mark; and Maya, also 17, who jumps into a relationship with an older man to escape her mother. Mark is an alcoholic drifter, prone to angry and violent outbursts. He has finally settled down long enough for Ariel to finish an entire school year in Sonora, Calif., where Ariel has allowed herself to develop real friendships and even consider the possibility of finding love. Hopkins uses spare yet poignant language to convey Ariel\u2019s simultaneous joy and fear as she begins to explore her sexuality (\u201cthe need to embrace\/ this part of myself\/ is escalating\u201d) while dealing with an abusive, homophobic, and controlling parent. Maya, whose chapters are written in first-person prose, intersects with Mark and Ariel\u2019s lives in an unexpected way, deepening the story\u2019s exploration of identity. Hopkins creates a satisfying and moving story, and her carefully structured poems ensure that each word and phrase is savored. Ages 14\u2013up. Agent: Laura Rennert, Andrea Brown Literary. (Jan.) \u2014Publishers Weekly<\/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-394","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ellenhopkinsbooks.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/394","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=394"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/ellenhopkinsbooks.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/394\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":399,"href":"https:\/\/ellenhopkinsbooks.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/394\/revisions\/399"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ellenhopkinsbooks.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=394"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}