about the book
Emily Beam is sent to a boarding school in Amherst, Massachusetts, damaged. Her ex-boyfriend, Paul Wagoner, had stolen a gun, threatened her, and committed suicide in their school library. She was sent away to heal and finish high school.
The other girls don’t know why Emily entered the boarding school in January of her junior year, but their rumors don’t even touch on the reality of Emily’s situation. Emily finds solace by writing poetry in the style of Emily Dickinson. The poems help voice her pain and confusion.
With the help of a teacher and two new friends, can Emily overcome her grief and begin to heal?
about the author
Jenny Hubbard wanted to be a writer ever since she first held a book in her hand. Her mother always took her and her sister to the public library, where she was like a kid in a candy store.
For seventeen years, she taught English at both high school and college levels. Now, as a full-time writer, she practices what she taught: rewriting. She views writing as a part-time job. Cleaning the house, doing the laundry, walking her dog, and making dinner makes up the rest of her time. But she does write every day, even if it’s just for two hours.
She also manages a local theatre company, St. Thomas Players, acting and directing from time to time. She has also tried her hand at writing plays.
Her background as a poet has informed her novels Paper Covers Rock and And We Stay. Poems from the narrator’s perspectives appear in both books.
Jenny lives in Salisbury, North Carolina, with her husband and dog.
Sources:
Author website
Author interview: YAtopia
Author interview: Charlotte Mecklenburg Library
Also by Jenny Hubbard:
Paper Covers Rock. Delacorte. 2011.
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