Dear friends,
I am so incredibly excited to announce that my new book, THE BOY AND GIRL WHO BROKE THE WORLD, is officially out in the world TODAY, and available from online booksellers including Malaprop’s (my local indie), Books-a-Million, Indiebound, Barnes & Noble, Amazon, and Simon & Schuster. You should also be able to find it at your local bookstores and libraries, and you can always request that they order it if they don’t have a copy. I would be incredibly grateful if you’d leave a positive review on Amazonand Goodreads. It really helps!
This book is very different than my last nine (!) novels. Like all of my books, it deals with pretty dark stuff—two lonely, motherless teens from the wrong side of the tracks; a community wracked by generational poverty, dysfunction, and addiction; and now with the exciting addition of global catastrophe and the end of the world!—but in many ways this is also my most cheerful book. I started writing it after the 2016 election, when I was feeling anything but optimistic. The world was (and is) on fire, but I made a choice to not wallow in it. Instead, I responded to the brokenness of the world with what I thought, maybe, could fix it. And I added a little fantasy and magic while I was at it.
Billy Sloat and Lydia Lemon were born with their cards stacked against them, and, like most of us at one time or another, they’ve had to rely on sometimes questionable coping skills to survive. But in the middle of all the madness, they managed to find each other, and have begun to learn what it takes to survive, and thrive, together—not alone, but as community, as chosen family. They were my family while I wrote this book; they kept me company and gave me hope while the world outside felt like it was falling apart. They reminded me over and over again that the only way to heal the fracturing of our hearts is through connection.
I also found that a great way to deal with the absurdity of the world is to make it even more absurd, so in this book you will also find unicorns and dragons, a mad king, a narcissistic rock star, a haunted house, a little ghost, modern dance, nefarious birds, singing dolls, a little romance, and all kinds of extreme weather. Because why not?
I hope you will find Billy and Lydia to be as wonderful companions as they were for me. Maybe they will even teach you a little about what it takes to survive the apocalypse.
Below you will find some more info about THE BOY AND GIRL WHO BROKE THE WORLD. Thanks so much for your support, and thank you for reading.
Love,
Amy
THE BOY AND GIRL WHO BROKE THE WORLD
by Amy Reed
The Astonishing Color of After meets Eleanor & Park in this breathtaking and beautifully surreal story about a friendship between two teens that just might shake the earth around them or at the very least make them face some painful truths about the nature of what drives us apart…and what brings us together.
Billy Sloat and Lydia Lemon don’t have much in common, unless you count growing up on the same (wrong) side of the tracks, the lack of a mother, and a persistent loneliness that has inspired creative coping mechanisms.
When the lives of these two loners are thrust together, Lydia’s cynicism is met with Billy’s sincere optimism, and both begin to question their own outlook on life. On top of that, weird happenings including an impossible tornado and an all-consuming fog are cropping up around them—maybe even because of them. And as the two grow closer and confront bigger truths about their pasts, they must also deal with such inconveniences as a narcissistic rock star, a war between unicorns and dragons, and eventually, of course, the apocalypse.
With a unique mix of raw emotion, humor, and heart, the surreal plotline pulls readers through an epic exploration of how caring for others makes us vulnerable—and how utterly pointless life would be if we didn’t.
PS: The beautiful new paperback edition of THE NOWHERE GIRLSis out today too! Go ahead and pick up a copy when you buy THE BOY AND GIRL WHO BROKE THE WORLD🙂
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