The Start of Me and You

by Emery Lord

Overview

Acclaimed author Emery Lord pens another gorgeous story of best friends, new love, and second chances.

* "Will inspire readers." —SLJ, starred review

It's been a year since it happened—when Paige Hancock's first boyfriend died in an accident. After shutting out the world for two years, Paige is finally ready for a second chance at high school . . . and she has a plan. First: Get her old crush, Ryan Chase, to date her—the perfect way to convince everyone she's back to normal. Next: Join a club—simple, it's high school after all. But when Ryan's sweet, nerdy cousin, Max, moves to town and recruits Paige for the Quiz Bowl team (of all things!) her perfect plan is thrown for a serious loop. Will Paige be able to face her fears and finally open herself up to the life she was meant to live?

Acclaim for The Start of Me and You

A Huffington Post Top YA Books of 2015

One of PopSugar's Best YA Books of 2015

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781619639386
Publisher:	Bloomsbury USA
Publication date:	03/01/2016
Pages:	416
Sales rank:	609,673
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.20(h) x 1.20(d)
Age Range:	12 - 17 Years

About the Author

Emery Lord is the author of Open Road Summer, The Start of Me and You, and When We Collided. She lives in a pink row house in Cincinnati, with a husband, two rescue dogs, and a closet full of impractical shoes.

www.emerylord.com

Twitter: @emerylord

Editorial Reviews

In sharp contrast to darker, more issue-driven YA books, this title keeps truer to the problems that most teens face. The protagonist's upbeat attitude will inspire readers to persevere even during the low points in life.” —starred review, School Library Journal

“This is the teen world as it should be, full of good times and good friends to temper life's inevitable sorrows, big and small. Fans of Sarah Dessen and Deb Caletti will want to add Emery Lord to their summer reading list.” —BCCB

“Lord (Open Road Summer) offers a sweet story of love and loss. . . . The author is gentle with Paige as she struggles to redefine herself both in school and at home, as well as figure out who understands her best as she stumbles toward new romance.” —Publishers Weekly

“Reads like an ode to unconditional love that will keep readers firmly believing in believing.” —Booklist

"A fabulously entertaining story of friendship, healing, and love. Filled with laughter, heart, and a side of sass, this rock star debut will have you cheering for an encore!" —Elizabeth Eulberg, author of REVENGE OF THE GIRL WITH THE GREAT PERSONALITY, on OPEN ROAD SUMMER

From the Publisher

01/05/2015
Last year, Paige Hancock’s boyfriend died, and although she and Aaron had only dated for a short time, everyone still thinks of her as “the Girl Whose Boyfriend Drowned.” As Paige begins her junior year of high school, she is ready to move on, romantically speaking, and she makes a list of all the things that will help her start over—including dating Ryan Chase, “my ultimate, since-middle-school pipe dream of a crush.” Then Paige surprises herself and joins the school’s competitive quiz game team, where she gets to know Ryan’s cousin Max. Soon, she is falling hard for Max while trying to convince herself she’s better off with Ryan. Lord (Open Road Summer) offers a sweet story of love and loss (in addition to Aaron’s increasingly distant demise, Paige is facing the imminent death of her ailing grandmother). The author is gentle with Paige as she struggles to redefine herself both in school and at home, as well as figure out who understands her best as she stumbles toward new romance. Ages 12–up. Agent: Taylor Martindale, Full Circle Literary. (Mar.)

Publishers Weekly

★ 12/01/2014
Gr 7 Up—Aspiring screenwriter Paige Hancock is determined to redefine herself one year after her boyfriend, Aaron, drowned. Paige creates a checklist of tasks that she intends to accomplish during her junior year to finally shake off the label of "the girl whose boyfriend drowned" in small-town Oakhurst, Indiana. With the support of a solid core of best friends, Paige succeeds in her "plan to become normal again." The crew also helps her recover from the devastating loss of her beloved and supportive grandmother and to cope with her divorced parents dating each other. She also finds a budding romance in an unexpected place—with Max Watson, nerdy cousin of heartthrob Ryan Chase. The positive and healthy relationships in the novel—between Paige and her friends, Paige and her parents, and Paige and Max—provide subtle modeling for young adults, while still remaining believable and not coming off as preachy. In sharp contrast to darker, more issue-driven YA books, this title keeps truer to the problems that most teens face. The protagonist's upbeat attitude will inspire readers to persevere even during the low points in life.—Nicole Knott, Watertown High School, CT

School Library Journal

2014-12-06
Life doesn't have to be defined by death, but try telling that to sympathetic strangers.In the year after Paige's boyfriend dies in a freak drowning accident, she gets a lot of kind looks from people who feel sorry for her. After a while, that's not what she needs. She needs to get over her boyfriend's death and move on, but that's not easy. Her grandmother, Paige's champion and confidante, has Alzheimer's disease. Her divorced parents make an uncomfortable situation even stranger by revealing a bizarre secret. But as long as Paige has her friends, things are OK. When she becomes close to a few new people, even better. And when one of those new people seems like something more than a friend, great! Lord delivers teenage characters in full bloom who love hard, fall hard, cry hard and remain ferociously committed to one another. She taps into a very specific human drive—the need to be recognized and appreciated for one's own talents—and provides an engaging backdrop of high school life. Occasionally, her characters come across the page a tad too emotionally developed, but distinct prose—"Max was the first bite of grilled cheese on a snowy day, the easy fit of my favorite jeans"—keeps them easy to relate to. A sweet story about forging an identity beyond tragedy. (Fiction. 12-18)

Kirkus Reviews