Kat Spears

In a hilarious and often poignant debut YA novel, Jesse Alderman—or "Sway," as he's known—avoids emotional connection at all costs, but he's ultimately forced to open his heart when he meets the girl of his dreams.

Sway

“In this necessary tale grappling with some of the prickly parts of life—mental health, loss, friendship—Spears proves once again that she's a master, not just of the teenage voice, but also of carefully crafting stories with both heart and teeth. Stories that bond themselves to readers and live with them—in them—far after the last page.” —Jason Reynolds, New York Times bestselling author of Stamped and Long Way Down A teen confronts his feelings about his father’s death, his new family, and the girl next door in this emotional young adult novel from critically-acclaimed author Kat Spears Dane Riley’s grasp on reality is slipping, and he’s not sure that he cares. While his mother has moved on after his father’s death, Dane desperately misses the man who made Dane feel okay to be himself. He can’t stand his mother’s boyfriend, or the boyfriend’s son, whose favorite pastime is tormenting Dane. Then there’s the girl next door: Dane can’t quite define their relationship, and he doesn’t know if he’s got the courage to leave the friend zone. An emotional novel about mental health, and dealing with grief and growing up, The Tragedy of Dane Riley is the story of a teenager looking to make sense of his feelings in the wake of tragedy, and finding the strength he needs to make life worth living.

A Novel

The Tragedy of Dane Riley

Luke Grayson’s life might as well be over when he’s sent to live with his Baptist pastor father in rural Tennessee after getting kicked out of his DC private school. His soulless stepmother is none too pleased to have him, and Luke’s bad boy status has done him no favors with his new principal or the local police chief. He’s also an easy target for Grant Parker, the local golden boy with a violent streak, who has the community of Ashland under his thumb and Luke directly in his crosshairs. But things go topsy-turvy when, after a freak accident, Luke replaces Grant at the top of the social pyramid. This fish out of water has suddenly gone from social outcast to hero in a matter of twenty-four hours. For the students who have lived in fear of Grant all their lives, this is a welcome change. But Luke’s newfound fame comes with a price. Nobody knows the truth about what really happened to Grant Parker except for Luke, and the longer he keeps living the lie, the more like Grant he becomes. Kat Spears returns with this explosive coming of age story that explores not only the labels put on us by society, but the labels we put on ourselves, and the work it takes to find out who we really are underneath all the lies.

The Boy Who Killed Grant Parker

From Kat Spears, author of Sway, comes a new novel that asks the question: when a group of four best friends begin to drift apart, what will it take to bring them back together?

Breakaway

Un corazon de piedra / Sway

Und plötzlich klopft mein Herz

For use in schools and libraries only. Depending on his three best friends after the tragic death of his sister, soccer player Jason unexpectedly falls in love and struggles with changing peer dynamics in the wake of his friends' respective life changes.

Vous pouvez tout lui demander Sauf de vous aimer Dans un James Bond, Jesse serait James. Sauf qu'il a 17 ans et qu'il ne résout pas les problèmes du monde, seulement ceux de ses camarades et du personnel du lycée. Besoin d'alcool pour une soirée ? De faire virer un élève ? D'éloigner un beau-père trop collant ? Jesse peut tout arranger. Ses combines sont habiles et il a la manipulation facile. Mais lorsque Ken, quarterback populaire du lycée, lui demande de lui arranger un rendez-vous avec une dénommée Bridget, une faille apparaît dans sa machine bien huilée. Parce que Jesse tombe immédiatement amoureux de Bridget. Pour lui, " busines is business ", et surtout, s'attacher c'est se fragiliser. Mais jusqu'où ira sa résistance aux sentiments ?

Kat Spears

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