By Your Side

by Kasie West

Overview

An irresistible story from Kasie West that explores the timeless question: What do you do when you fall for the person you least expect?

When Autumn Collins finds herself accidentally locked in the library for an entire weekend, she doesn’t think things could get any worse. But that’s before she realizes that Dax Miller is locked in with her.

Autumn doesn’t know much about Dax except that he’s trouble. Between the rumors about the fight he was in (and that brief stint in juvie that followed it) and his reputation as a loner, he’s not exactly the ideal person to be stuck with. Still, she just keeps reminding herself that it is only a matter of time before Jeff, her almost-boyfriend, realizes he left her in the library and comes to rescue her.

Only he doesn’t come. No one does.

Instead it becomes clear that Autumn is going to have to spend the next couple of days living off vending-machine food and making conversation with a boy who clearly wants nothing to do with her. Except there is more to Dax than meets the eye.

As he and Autumn at first grudgingly, and then not so grudgingly, open up to each other, Autumn is struck by their surprising connection. But can their feelings for each other survive once the weekend is over and Autumn’s old life, and old love interest, threaten to pull her from Dax’s side?

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780062455864
Publisher:	HarperCollins Publishers
Publication date:	01/31/2017
Pages:	352
Sales rank:	210,126
Product dimensions:	5.20(w) x 7.80(h) x 1.00(d)
Age Range:	13 - 17 Years

About the Author

Kasie West lives with her family in central California, where the heat tries to kill her with its 115-degree stretches. She graduated from Fresno State University with a BA degree that has nothing to do with writing. Visit her online at www.kasiewest.com.

Editorial Reviews

12/05/2016
After two high school students get locked in the local library over a three-day weekend, they end up sharing intimate details of their lives with each other, even though Autumn is well aware that Dax’s “reputation wasn’t exactly stellar,” and he thinks she is a “naïve, spoiled priss.” When Autumn emerges, she finds her life in chaos: her family and classmates thought that she had been in a car accident involving her friends. As Autumn copes with the consequences of the weekend, she turns to Dax, a lonely foster kid, for distraction and comfort. West (P.S. I Like You) offers a largely formulaic story of a golden girl falling for a bad boy, from the initial accident that throws the unlikely pair together to the path their relationship takes and its effect on Autumn’s friendships. Fans of opposites-attract romances, though, should enjoy watching Autumn and Dax find each other, even as the two teens pushback against a host of judgments, expectations, and assumptions. Ages 13–up. Agent: Michelle Wolfson, Wolfson Literary. (Jan.)

Publishers Weekly

A simmering romance that gives weight to mental health and hard choices.” — Kirkus Reviews

From the Publisher

04/01/2017
Gr 7 Up—Finding themselves unexpectedly locked in the library together for a long weekend, two seemingly dissimilar teens bond. Autumn takes photographs for the yearbook, belongs to the "in" crowd, and has a budding flirtation with the fun-loving and popular Jeff. Rumors abound about bad boy Dax, who has spent time at a juvenile detention center, been raised in foster homes, and doesn't seem to care what other people think about him. Unable to communicate with the outside world and surviving on PayDay bars, Autumn opens up to Dax in a way she never has with her friends; she tells him about her anxiety disorder. Upon liberation from the library, Autumn faces her true feelings for Jeff, deals with guilt as he recovers from a dreadful car accident, and increasingly wishes that her friends knew the real reason she often flees group gatherings. She and Dax act not just as "distractions" for each other but also as supporters, pushing each other to confront fears. Going beyond a light tale of teen love, the story delves deeper by weaving in themes of the foster care system, absent parents, and mental illness. Although the start is a bit contrived, West's multidimensional protagonists experience growth as their romance evolves. The snippets of kissing at the end ring true to the book's wholesome nature. VERDICT Real-life issues enhance this engaging novel, which will appeal to fans of Sarah Dessen. A good choice for realistic fiction shelves.—Kate Reid, The Allen-Stevenson School, New York

School Library Journal

2016-10-26
After a weekend trapped in a library together, two teens from different social stratospheres are drawn to one another. All Autumn, a white senior, wanted to do was go to the bathroom. She had been studying with her friends in the library before it closed, excited to go build a campfire in the canyon. Instead, she finds herself locked in the library, her friends gone and her phone with them. But she's not alone: Dax, a white loner with a bad reputation, has purposely stayed behind, unaware of her presence. It's a three-day weekend, and the two while the hours away with games and standoffs, each wary of trusting the other. As Autumn warms to Dax, he remains distant, and her friends never show up. When the reason for their absence is revealed and Autumn's anxiety disorder spirals, it's Dax who saves the day. Afterward, however, Dax pretends they're strangers, and Autumn's friends have expectations for who she should be with, and it sure isn't Dax. The feeling of calm that Dax brought out in Autumn pulls her to him anyway, and soon she must decide what she really wants. Though quite slow to start, Autumn and Dax's relationship burns brightly. Autumn's struggles with anxiety are equally dynamic. If only the rest of her life—her friends and other love interest—were equally engaging. A simmering romance that gives weight to mental health and hard choices. (Fiction. 13-18)

Kirkus Reviews