Cut Both Ways

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HarperCollins Publishers

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Advance Reader's e-proof

courtesy of
HarperCollins Publishers

This is an advance reader's e-proof made from digital files of the uncorrected proofs. Readers are reminded that changes may be made prior to publication, including to the type, design, layout, or content, that are not reflected in this e-proof, and that this e-pub may not reflect the final edition. Any material to be quoted or excerpted in a review should be checked against the final published edition. Dates, prices, and manufacturing details are subject to change or cancellation without notice.

UNCORRECTED E-PROOF—NOT FOR SALE

HarperCollins Publishers

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To the Reader:

Cut Both Ways
is a book that challenged me. It explores how we come to know ourselves, the parts of us that we allow others to see, and how truth isn't always an absolute. By the time Carrie Mesrobian started writing it, she was already building a reputation as an author who refused to shy away from content that might be deemed “difficult” in favor of unvarnished reality. This is one of the most honest depictions of a teenager, and his romantic and sexual entanglements, I've read.

The story centers on Will Caynes, a seventeen-year-old who just had his first kiss—with his male best friend, Angus. Will is certain he's not gay, but he keeps hooking up with Angus, even after he starts dating Brandy, a girl who goes to his school. In the back of his mind, Will is aware that he shouldn't be in two relationships at once—especially since Angus and Brandy don't know about each other—but Will can't stop himself.

Will is also caught in the middle of other situations, like commuting between his mom's suburban McMansion, with her new husband and Will's two half sisters, and his dad's constantly-under-construction house in Will's old neighborhood. Between these extremes, Will struggles to find neutral ground. This is a story about his search for home.

Carrie Mesrobian is an exciting writer, one who is pushing the boundaries of what YA lit can be. She is committed to portraying realistic teen relationships, even and especially including sex. I feel so fortunate to have worked with her on
Cut Both Ways
, and extremely grateful to you for helping put the book in the hands of readers who may find in it their own sense of home. Thank you.

Sincerely,

Alexandra Cooper

Executive Editor

HarperCollins
Publishers

UNCORRECTED E-PROOF—NOT FOR SALE

HarperCollins Publishers

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UNCORRECTED E-PROOF—NOT FOR SALE

HarperCollins Publishers

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To Adrian

Let me paraphrase Mr. Plumbean from Daniel Pinkwater's

The Big Orange Splot:

Our house is where we long to be

and it looks like all our dreams

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HarperCollins Publishers

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so I wait for you like a lonely house

till you will see me again and live in me.

Till then my windows ache.

                        
—Pablo Neruda, from sonnet LVX of 100 Love Sonnets

“Home is the place where, when you have to go there,

They have to take you in.”

                        
—from “The Death of the Hired Man” by Robert Frost