Published in 2017
210 pages
Elana K. Arnold writes books for and about children and teens. Her books have received a Printz Honor, been Junior Library Guild selections, on the Bank Street Best Book list, and named to the YALSA “Best Fiction for Young Adults” list. She holds a master’s degree in Creative Writing/Fiction from the University of California. Davis and currently lives in Huntington Beach, California, with her husband, two children, and a menagerie of animals.
What is this book about?
A 2017 National Book Award for Young People’s Literature Finalist
This is not a story of sugar and spice and everything nice.
When Nina Faye was fourteen, her mother told her there was no such thing as unconditional love. Nina believed her. Now Nina is sixteen. And she’ll do anything for the boy she loves, just to prove she’s worthy of him. But when he breaks up with her, Nina is lost. What if she is not a girlfriend? What is she made of?
Broken-hearted, Nina tries to figure out what the conditions of love are. She’s been volunteering at a high-kill animal shelter where she realizes that for dogs waiting to be adopted, love comes only to those with youth, symmetry, and quietness. She also ruminates on the strange, dark time her mother took her to Italy to see statues of saints who endured unspeakable torture because of their unquestioning devotion to the divine. Is this what love is?
