Book Description:
Laura Wiess, the acclaimed author who once brought us “a girl to walk alongside Harper Lee’s Scout and J. D. Salinger’s Phoebe” (Luanne Rice), brings us another memorable young woman, this one at the center of an extraordinary novel of how love ends, how it begins, and what it’s worth to protect it…
All Hanna’s wanted since sophomore year is Seth. She’s gone out with other guys, even gained a rep for being a flirt, all the while hoping cool, guitar-playing Seth will choose her. Then she gets him — but their relationship is hurtful, stormy and critical, not at all what Hanna thinks a perfect love should be. Bewildered by Seth’s treatment of her and in need of understanding, Hanna decides to fulfill her school’s community service requirement by spending time with Helen, her terminally ill neighbor, who she’s turned to for comfort and wisdom throughout her life. But illness has changed Helen into someone Hanna hardly knows, and her home is not the refuge it once was. Feeling more alone than ever, Hanna gets drawn into an audiobook the older woman is listening to, a fierce, unsettling love story of passion, sacrifice, and devotion. Hanna’s fascinated by the idea that such all-encompassing love can truly exist, and without her even realizing it, the story begins to change her.
Until the day when the story becomes all too real…and Hanna’s world is spun off its axis by its shattering, irrevocable conclusion.
About the Author:
Laura Wiess is the author of the critically acclaimed novels Such a Pretty Girl, chosen as one of the ALA’s 2008 Best Books for Young Adults and 2008 YALSA Quick Picks for Reluctant Readers, and Leftovers. Originally from Milltown, New Jersey, she traded bumper-to-bumper traffic, excellent pizza, and summer days down the shore for scenic roads, bears, no pizza delivery, and the irresistible allure of an old stone house surrounded by forests in Pennsylvania’s Endless Mountains Region. Email Laura Wiess at laura@laurawiess.com or visit http://www.laurawiess.com/ for more information.
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Guest Post by the author, Laura Wiess:
Where did the idea for How It Ends come from?
How It Ends began when I was wondering about the way love begins, what we go into it hoping for or dreaming of, what we defend and what we surrender, what we barter or overlook to stay in love, what happens if the love is strong and good and satisfying enough to grow, and then how it ends.
I was also wondering about the secrets people keep hidden in their hearts, and how haunting it is to be left with unanswered questions, things that come to light after a loved one is gone that you can now never get an answer to.
So while I’m mulling over these intertwined questions, several disturbing images I’d been carrying around for years resurfaced and wove themselves in, too.
One image came from one of the stories my mother used to tell me, about when she was a little girl in the 1940s. She lived in a neighborhood where all the kids used to play out in the street, and although no one talked much about the kinds of men who offered candy to children, all the kids were warned by their parents not to go near this one house on the block where an old man and his invalid wife lived, especially if it was dusk or he called you into his garage for any reason.
The local kids ran away from this guy whenever he beckoned but one day there was a new girl of about fifteen living there, an orphaned state kid, placed with them to live. She was rarely allowed to come out and play, and did not even go to school. So whatever happened to this girl?
How It Ends was born of these questions, and is the story of Hanna, a teen searching for love, Helen, her beloved, terminally-ill neighbor, and the sharing of something real, and good, and true.
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Make sure you check out all of these stops on the blog tour for How It Ends!
My Book Views: http://my-book-views.blogspot.com/
Book Soulmates: http://booksoulmates.blogspot.com/
A Journey of Books: http://ajourneyofbooks.blogspot.com/
Just Jennifer Reading: http://justjenniferreading.blogspot.com/
Debbie’s World of Books: http://debbiesworldofbooks.com/
All About {n}: http://www.bookwormygirl.blogspot.com/
Chick with Books: http://chickwithbooks.blogspot.com/
Bookin’ with Bingo: http://bookinwithbingo.blogspot.com/
Starting Fresh: http://startingfresh-gaby317.blogspot.com/
Booksie’s Blog: http://booksiesblog.blogspot.com/
Readaholic: http://bridget3420.blogspot.com/
Blog Business World: http://www.blogbusinessworld.blogspot.com/
Books and Needlepoint: http://booksandneedlepoint.blogspot.com/
Bella’s Novella: http://www.bellasnovella.com/
Frugal Plus: http://frugalplus.com/
Eclectic Book Lover: http://www.eclecticbooklover.com/
My Own Little Corner of the World: http://molcotw.blogspot.com/
Chick Loves Lit: http://www.chickloveslit.blogspot.com/
Poisoned Rationality: http://lastexilewords.blogspot.com/
So Many Books, So Little Time: http://purplg8r-somanybooks.blogspot.com/
Beth’s Book Review Blog: http://bethsbookreviewblog.blogspot.com/
Park Avenue Princess: http://aparkavenueprincess.blogspot.com/
Half Deserted Streets: http://www.halfdesertedstreets.com/
Power in the Blog: http://jesharris.wordpress.com/
Metroreader: http://metroreader.blogspot.com/
Crazy for Books: http://crazy-for-books.blogspot.com/
Angieville: http://angieville.blogspot.com/
This looks good!
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