Waiting
Authors: Carol Lynch Williams
Tags: #Juvenile Fiction, #Family, #Siblings, #Social Issues, #Suicide, #Depression & Mental Illness
PRAISE FOR
GLIMPSE
by
CAROL LYNCH WILIAMS
* “Hope’s memories paint a picture of sporadic sisterly bonding . . . while other incidents . . . hint at a darker reality. Williams’s decision to wait until the end to divulge the cause of Lizzie’s misery is a gamble, but one that works.”—
Publishers Weekly
, starred review
“A page-turner for Ellen Hopkins fans.”—
Kirkus Reviews
“Well-paced, raw novel-in-verse.”—
School Library Journal
WHEN
THE BEST
PART OF A
FAMILY DIES,
EVERYONE
FALLS
APART
. . . .
A
S CHILDREN
, L
ONDON AND
Z
ACH WERE AS
close as could be. When he dies tragically at sixteen, the family is gutted. London’s father is distant. Her mother hasn’t spoken a word to her since Zach’s death, and each day is filled with what-ifs.
At school there are whispers. Is it London’s fault? Alone and adrift, London is torn between her brother’s best friend and the mysterious new boy as she struggles to find herself and redemption. A gripping read by award-winning author Carol Lynch Williams.
CAROL
LYNCH
WILLIAMS
is the author of more than one dozen books. Ms. Williams holds an MFA in writing for children and young adults from Vermont College of Fine Arts, and she received the PEN American Foundation Phyllis Reynolds Naylor Award for
Glimpse
. She teaches writing and helped develop the Writing and Illustrating for Young Readers conference (read more at her blog,
throwingupwords.wordpress.com
). She lives with her family in Utah. Visit her at
CarolLynchWilliams.com
.
Jacket design by Lucy Ruth Cummins
Jacket photograph copyright
© 2012 by Anna Peters
A Paula Wiseman Book
Simon & Schuster • New York
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This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real locales are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Copyright © 2012 by Carol Lynch Williams
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Book design by Lucy Ruth Cummins
The text for this book is set in Gill Sans.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Williams, Carol Lynch.
Waiting / Carol Lynch Williams. — 1st ed.
p. cm.
“A Paula Wiseman book.”
Summary: As the tragic death of her older brother devastates the family, teenaged London struggles to find redemption and finds herself torn between her brother’s best friend and a handsome new boy in town.
ISBN 978-1-4424-4353-2 (alk. paper)
[1. Grief—Fiction. 2. Family problems—Fiction. 3. Brothers and sisters—Fiction.] I. Title.
PZ7.W65588Wai 2012
[Fic]—dc22
2011043898
ISBN 978-1-4424-4355-6 (eBook)
FOR
Michael and Cheri,
Hannah and Esther,
Brandon and Dianne.
Oh, how we miss you.
Contents
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
There are always a million people to thank after the long process of writing a book. First cheerleaders for me are my daughters. I love all five of them! They believe in everything I write, even when I do not, and some listen to or read my stories more than once from first line to
the end.
With
Waiting
, Caitlynne was there from word one. This book began when a good friend of hers was killed. We have wept together over the past many months out of sorrow for the loss of a terrific person.
Waiting
is about grief—and Cait and I shared that, along with hope—during the writing of this novel.
I also want to thank Alexandra Penfold, my editor at Paula Wiseman Books. Alexandra has read over this book more times than I have. She’s looked at every period, every comma, every line break, every space, every word. It matters to me that I have written the best story possible. I’ve never said to Alexandra, “I want to make sure every word counts,” but she has known my heart and matched my vision now on two novels. I appreciate and love her for this. Some think that just publishing is most important. For me, publication with the right editor is most important.
Waiting
is what it is because my editor, Alexandra, cares.
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