Panic

by Sasha Dawn

Overview

A page-turning story about a teen's struggle to overcome her fears on her quest for truth, strength, and stardom.

Madelaine loves music, loves the stage, and loves performing. When she finds a fragment of poetry that inspires her to finish a song she's been writing, she tracks down the poem's author online in hopes of starting a collaboration. But as more pieces of the poem find their way to her, she realizes the online poet can't possibly be the one who's leaving them for her. At the same time, some shocking family secrets upend Madelaine's home life. As Madelaine struggles to separate the images people present online from the realities of who they are, her quest for truth, strength, and stardom takes turns she never expected.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781541535749
Publisher:	Lerner Publishing Group
Publication date:	10/01/2019
Pages:	312
Product dimensions:	5.70(w) x 8.30(h) x 1.20(d)
Lexile:	HL600L (what's this?)
Age Range:	13 - 17 Years

About the Author

Sasha Dawn teaches writing at community colleges and offers pro bono writing workshops to local schools. She lives in her native northern Illinois, where she collects tap shoes, fabric swatches, and tales of survival, and she harbors a crush on Thomas Jefferson. Her debut novel, Oblivion, was an Illinois Reads selection and one of the New York Public Library's best books for teens.

Editorial Reviews

"After discovering an origami moon with a poem inside at her favorite cafe, Madelaine Joseph's seemingly quiet life is plunged into a thrilling adventure. Madelaine has been a performer for as long as she can remember. As the daughter and client of Jesse Joseph, a well-known talent manager for Broadway and the television industry, Madelaine seems to enjoy the privileges that come with her insider connections. However, her life isn't as glamorous as it seems. Caught between her divorced parents, she struggles with panic attacks and undiagnosed anxiety and yearns to find and express her own voice. The poem she discovers in the paper moon fits perfectly as lyrics for a song she composed, prompting Madelaine to seek out its author. Her trusted circle of friends—twins McKenna and Brendon, and her half sister, Hayley—now expands to one Dylan Thomas, who reaches out online and claims to be the artist behind the moon and poem. Madelaine finds herself easily able to confide in Dylan while also unsure of how much she can trust a stranger. Dawn (Blink, 2018, etc.) draws in readers, showing them that there is more to a person than what one sees on the surface. The author makes it easy to be both frustrated with the characters' choices and yet to empathize with them. All characters are presumed white; Brendon is pansexual. Compelling and captivating."—Kirkus Reviews

From the Publisher

09/01/2019

Gr 9 Up—High school junior Madelaine, an aspiring actress and musician, has been torn between her divorced parents for many years. Her mom, a survivor of breast cancer, is struggling to work two jobs and make ends meet, while her father is a successful talent agent living in a large house in the suburbs of Chicago. Though Madelaine tries her best to remain loyal to her mom, she has a hard time turning away from her father's offers of shopping sprees and trips to New York City. When Madelaine finds an origami moon with a poem inside of it at her favorite coffee shop, she is inspired to finish a song she's been writing and searches for the mysterious creator of the moon. Dylan, a member of an online music site, comes forward and befriends Madelaine digitally. As Madelaine tries to juggle auditions, family life, and school work, she occasionally notices a suspicious man appearing in the places she frequents. Though she wonders if her Internet friend is responsible, she uncovers shocking family secrets that make her realize the situation is even more intense than she imagined. This is a sweet book with a touching story line that will likely strike a chord with teens going through any type of family drama. On the downside, frequent passages of text message conversations are distracting, and some of the characters are two-dimensional. VERDICT Recommended for large libraries, especially those interested in theater and arts.—Karin Greenberg, Manhasset High School, Manhasset, NY

School Library Journal

2019-07-21
After discovering an origami moon with a poem inside at her favorite cafe, Madelaine Joseph's seemingly quiet life is plunged into a thrilling adventure.

Madelaine has been a performer for as long as she can remember. As the daughter and client of Jesse Joseph, a well-known talent manager for Broadway and the television industry, Madelaine seems to enjoy the privileges that come with her insider connections. However, her life isn't as glamorous as it seems. Caught between her divorced parents, she struggles with panic attacks and undiagnosed anxiety and yearns to find and express her own voice. The poem she discovers in the paper moon fits perfectly as lyrics for a song she composed, prompting Madelaine to seek out its author. Her trusted circle of friends—twins McKenna and Brendon and her half sister, Hayley—now expands to one Dylan Thomas, who reaches out online and claims to be the artist behind the moon and poem. Madelaine finds herself easily able to confide in Dylan while also unsure of how much she can trust a stranger. Dawn (Blink, 2018, etc.) draws in readers, showing them that there is more to a person than what one sees on the surface. The author makes it easy to be both frustrated with the characters' choices and yet to empathize with them. All characters are presumed white; Brendon is pansexual.

Compelling and captivating. (Fiction. 13-18)

Kirkus Reviews

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