Faceless

by Alyssa Sheinmel

Overview

From a New York Times–bestselling author, an emotionally gripping novel about a girl who gets a face transplant and must rediscover her identity.

When Maisie Winters wakes up, she’s in the hospital.

The last thing she remembers is going for a run on a misty morning. Slowly, she figures out that after lightning hit a power line, a hot-burning electrical fire consumed her, destroying her face. Where her nose, cheeks, and chin used to be, now there is . . . nothing.

Maisie is lucky enough to qualify for a rare medical treatment: a face transplant. But with someone else’s features staring back at her in the mirror, Maisie looks—and feels—like a stranger. Before, she knew who she was—a regular girl who ran track and got good grades, who loved her boyfriend and her best friend. Now, she can’t even recognize herself . . .

From the New York Times–bestselling author of A Danger to Herself and Others comes a gripping and gorgeously written tale of identity and love. This is a story of losing yourself, and the long, hard fight to find your way back.

Praise for Faceless

A New York Public Library Best Books for Teens (2015)

Nominated for YALSA Best Fiction for Young Adults (2016)

“Gorgeous and wrenching . . . I couldn’t put it down.” —Luanne Rice, New York Times–bestselling author

“[Sheinmel’s] depiction of a disfigured adolescent girl, already searching for herself and now suddenly forced to accept this new enormity, is compelling . . . absorbing.” —Kirkus Reviews

“Fascinating. Teens will identify with [Maisie’s] struggle to accept that her old life is gone forever. The anger and grief that she feels is palpable and vividly expressed. Fans of R. J. Palacio’s Wonder will also enjoy this book and relate to its similar theme about how physical appearance does not define who you really are.” —VOYA

“A fascinating human portrait of a unique medical procedure, this work paints a complex picture of a young life impacted by a mammoth change.” —School Library Journal

“Sheinmel’s prose is accessible to a wide range of readers who, for whatever reason, find themselves struggling with differences. A touching reminder that real change is rarely skin deep.” —Booklist

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780545676021
Publisher:	Scholastic, Inc.
Publication date:	08/17/2022
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	357
Sales rank:	483,041
File size:	6 MB
Age Range:	12 - 17 Years

About the Author

Alyssa Sheinmel is the New York Times–bestselling author of several novels for young adults including A Danger to Herself and Others, Faceless and Second Star. She is the co-author of The Haunting of Sunshine Girl and its sequel, The Awakening of Sunshine Girl. Alyssa grew up in Northern California and New York and currently lives in New York City. Follow her on Instagram and Twitter at @AlyssaSheinmel, or visit her online at alyssasheinmel.com.

Read an Excerpt

If Chirag were here, he'd probably make a meticulous list of pros and cons, as though there is a correct and incorrect answer, like this decision is as straightforward as a math problem.I bite my chapped lips and try to imagine the answer we'd find at the end of his list.Surely we'd conclude that spending the rest of my life with someone else's face is better than spending it with no face at all.So I tell them yes.

Editorial Reviews

Praise for Faceless:

A New York Public Library Best Books for Teens (2015)Nominated for YALSA Best Fiction for Young Adults (2016)

"Faceless is gorgeous and wrenching, full of gigantic questions and even more gigantic answers about love, identity and appearance. It is a vivid, compelling, beautiful, immediate novel, and Alyssa Sheinmel's writing is so true, her characters so real, that they live on long after the last page is turned." — Luanne Rice, New York Times bestselling author

"[Sheinmel's] depiction of a disfigured adolescent girl, already searching for herself and now suddenly forced to accept this new enormity, is compelling... absorbing." — Kirkus Reviews

"Fascinating. Teens will identify with [Maisie's] struggle to accept that her old life is gone forever. The anger and grief that she feels is palpable and vividly expressed. Fans of R. J. Palacio's Wonder will also enjoy this book and relate to its similar theme about how physical appearance does not define who you reallyare." — Voice of Youth Advocates

"A fascinating human portrait of a unique medical procedure, this work paints a complex picture of a young life impacted by a mammoth change." — School Library Journal

"Sheinmel's prose is accessible to a wide range of readers who, for whatever reason, find themselves struggling with differences. A touching reminder that real change is rarely skin deep." — Booklist

From the Publisher

11/01/2015
Gr 9 Up—Out for a casual morning run, Maisie becomes the victim of a freak accident. While she survives against the odds, the casualty is major—her face is irrevocably damaged. With a pioneering surgery, she is given a new face and another chance at life. Yet the struggles begin at the same time as her new reality. A fascinating human portrait of a unique medical procedure, this work paints a complex picture of a young life impacted by a mammoth change. Maisie is a deeply sympathetic and human character despite the outrageous circumstances. There is never a transcendent "feel-good" moment, to the book's credit and detriment. Some readers might tire of the extremely dark tone and perspective of the protagonist, while others would enjoy the realism of a teenager facing such a grave change to her life. The secondary characters are similarly well drawn, including a long-suffering boyfriend and bickering parents. VERDICT Give this to fans of Trisha Leaver's The Secrets We Keep (Farrar, 2015) and other readers ready for an all-too-gritty piece of realistic fiction.—Erinn Black Salge, Saint Peter's Prep, Jersey City, NJ

School Library Journal

Narrator Susan-Kate Heaney portrays Maisie, a dreamy 16-year-old who fantasizes about the prom and telling her first boyfriend she loves him. But Maisie herself and Heaney’s narration change quickly when Maisie awakens in a hospital, the victim of a freak accident that has burned her face. After a partial face transplant, Maisie is tormented by living with “the donor’s” features as she suffers insensitive classmates and her ex-boyfriend’s kindness. Heaney voices Maisie’s outward self as sarcastic, bitter, and sometimes cruel. Inner monologues reveal her hurt and gradual transformation into a young woman who thinks for herself. S.W. © AudioFile 2015, Portland, Maine

NOVEMBER 2015 - AudioFile

Narrator Susan-Kate Heaney portrays Maisie, a dreamy 16-year-old who fantasizes about the prom and telling her first boyfriend she loves him. But Maisie herself and Heaney’s narration change quickly when Maisie awakens in a hospital, the victim of a freak accident that has burned her face. After a partial face transplant, Maisie is tormented by living with “the donor’s” features as she suffers insensitive classmates and her ex-boyfriend’s kindness. Heaney voices Maisie’s outward self as sarcastic, bitter, and sometimes cruel. Inner monologues reveal her hurt and gradual transformation into a young woman who thinks for herself. S.W. © AudioFile 2015, Portland, Maine

NOVEMBER 2015 - AudioFile

2015-06-23
When a pretty, athletic girl loses her face in a fire, she gets a face transplant and struggles with the permanent changes in her life. Sixteen-year-old Maisie loves to run track, and she secretly loves her boyfriend, Chirag, although she hasn't yet told him. While running one morning, she's too near a tree when it's struck by lightning, and the resultant fire burns much of her face away. She gets the chance for a face transplant, but she will still be permanently scarred. Chirag tries to stand by her, but she believes everyone sees her as a freak, and she won't allow him to touch her. She dreads returning to school, where Chirag and her best friend try to protect her, but they too struggle with the changes as Maisie flares with anger and lashes out. Only when she reluctantly joins a therapy group for disfigured accident victims does she learn how to cope with her plight. Sheinmel writes in Maisie's present-tense voice, focusing on her internal anger, fears, and grief. Her depiction of a disfigured adolescent girl, already searching for herself and now suddenly forced to accept this new enormity, is compelling. As the story progresses it becomes almost a textbook explanation of psychological progression through anger and grief into acceptance, giving the story a distinctly problem-novel feel. A problem novel, yes, but an absorbing one. (Fiction. 12-18)

Kirkus Reviews