about the book
A girl wakes up in the woods after a brutal beating. She has no memory of who she is, where she is, or even of her previous life at all. Stumbling into a shed nearby, she finds two men inside—apparently the ones who beat her. Apparently, they thought they had killed her. Now one of them says, “Take her out back and finish her off.”
The girl, Cady she learns later, knows that she must run. But where? And why do these men want her dead? The loss of her memory has not damaged her ability to think logically, nor it seems, her considerable self-defense skills.
Cady escapes, but the police do not believe her story. No one does, as she cannot give them a name, address, phone number, or anything to identify her; most people think that she is escaped from a mental ward.
Everyone but Ty, a McDonald’s employee and an EMT-in-training. Ty gives her medical care, changes her appearance, helps steal a car, and together they try to find out who Cady is before both of their pasts catch up to them.
about the author
April Henry was born in Portland, Oregon, and raised in the small town of Medford.
She has a very interesting family. Her dad, Hank Henry, was a WWII hero and famed pioneering radio and television broadcaster. Her maternal great-grandfather was part of an arson gang and her paternal great-grandfather gunned down his daughter’s boyfriend for kissing her!
When April was twelve, she sent author Roald Dahl (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory) a short story about a frog named Herman who loved peanut butter. It so happened that the day Roald received the story, he was meeting with an editor of an international children’s magazine. He shared April’s story with the editor, who called her and offered to publish it!
Though April sold her first story and loved reading books, she never thought she could be a writer. She went to Oregon State University and studied abroad at the University of Stuttgart, in Germany. She put herself through school working as a cook, maid, German translator, data entry clerk, and life drawing model—and she also jumped out of cakes. After graduating, she worked as a health care writer for a decade.
April’s first book garnered no interest from any agents. Her second book got her an agent and a lot of nice rejection letters. The rejection letters for her third book weren’t even nice! Her fourth book sold in two days! (Just goes to show you, never give up!) Since then she has written dozens of mysteries and thrillers for teens and adults.
April still lives in Portland, Oregon, with her husband and daughter. In her spare time, she studies kajukenbo and kung fu!
Sources:
Author website
Author biography: Wikipedia
Author biography: Literati
Book trailer: The Girl Who Was Supposed To Die
Also by April Henry:
Count All Her Bones. Henry Holt & Company (BYR). May 2017.
The Girl I Used to Be. Henry Holt & Company (BYR). 2016.
Blood Will Tell (Point Last Seen, Book 2). Henry Holt. 2015.
The Body in the Woods (Point Last Seen, Book 1). Henry Holt. 2014.
The Night She Disappeared. Henry Holt. 2012.
Girl, Stolen. Henry Holt. 2010.
Torched. Putnam Publishing (Juvenile). 2009.
Shock Point. Putnam Publishing (Juvenile). 2006.
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