cover photo Colin Thom, Trevillion Images
Blair and Ardith are best friends who have committed an unforgivable act in the name of love and justice. But in order to understand what could drive two young women to such extreme measures, first you'll have to understand why. You'll have to listen as they describe parents who are alternately absent and smothering, classmates who mock and shun anyone different, and young men who are allowed to hurt and dominate without consequence.
You will have to learn what it's like to be a teenage girl who locks her bedroom door at night, who has been written off by the adults around her as damaged goods. A girl who has no one to trust except the one person she's forbidden to see.
You'll have to understand what it's really like to be forgotten and abandoned in America today.
Are you ready?
REVIEWS
Like her equally gripping debut (Such a Pretty Girl), Wiess's suspense story delivers an outsize jolt of adrenaline. …the final moments of the book unfold with a bang and a twist… Wiess's clear insight into the evolution of victim into perpetrator and her layered storytelling bump up the subject to a much more challenging playing field. – Publishers Weekly,
Jan 2008
The climax is explosive, but it's the feisty heroines who will resonate more. Gritty drama from Wiess (Such a Pretty Girl, 2007) that will get teens and parents talking. -- Kirkus Reviews, Oct 2007
Reading Blair and Ardith's story is like scratching a mosquito bite, you can't stop scratching until it bleeds. And as much as it hurts, you won't be able to put Leftovers down until you finish it. -- Lyn Seippel, Bookloons.com, Oct 2007
“A riveting story about how far girls will go to protect that which is good and decent in their lives. A bracing, unapologetic, and thoroughly compelling read. I love this book.” -- Laura Fitzgerald, author of Veil of Roses
Laura (Wiess) is back with a new novel due out in January, LEFTOVERS, and it's just as powerful and as poignant as SUCH A PRETTY GIRL. -- Shon Bacon, SD Girl, Oct 2007
I seriously could not put it down. I loved every second. I cried when they cried and laughed when they laughed. Mrs. Wiess puts you in these girls' shoes with her first-person narrative in this new novel coming out in January of 2008. Do I recommend it? Heck yes I do. I started reading this with a certain expectation. Laura Wiess's previous novel "Such a Pretty Girl" was amazing. I can't tell you how many times I've read it. I knew I could expect a great book from Laura. I knew I could. She did not let me down. I've read Leftovers seven times already. I keep reading and re-reading.
Did I get what I expected? Yes. Did I get what I wanted? Well, I wanted something real, something to relate to, and something other girls could relate to as well. I wanted a book that wouldn't hide or cover up anything. I got just those things and more. -- Allie C, Teen Book Reviewer, Oct 2007
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cover design by Regina Starace
cover photograph© oote boe/Alamy
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Such a Pretty Girl
MTV Books
Trade Paperback
ISBN 1-4165-2183-6
Meredith was promised nine years of safety, but they only gave her three. Her father, who was sent to prison for sexually abusing Meredith and other children in their small town, has been released on good behavior. He was supposed to be locked up until Meredith's eighteenth birthday, when she could legally be free of both her abusive father and her delusional mother who dwells on a fantasy that the three of them will be a happy family once more.
But Meredith is only fifteen, and her father is out of prison...and her mother is bringing him home. And Meredith won't let him hurt her, or anyone else, ever again. No matter what the cost.
Lyrical, suspenseful, and emotionally shattering, Such a Pretty Girl captures a young woman's painful fight for survival -- and her journey back to herself.
2008 ALA Best Books for Young Adult
2008 YALSA Quick Picks for Reluctant Readers
Reviews of Such a Pretty Girl
...yet in the shadows and stillness, Mer's nightmare begins anew. This is a gritty, terrifying novel about a father's abuse of power and trust, and the way two different teens, Meredith and her...friend, Andy, deal with that reality. Although not explicit, the novel is honest in its telling. Wiess' story is a page-turner that ultimately sends a startling message of empowerment...extremely satisfying. -- BOOKLIST, April 2007 Frances Bradburn Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
"This is a rare book: a "problem novel" in which the story is in service of the characters, not the other way around. This tale strikes just the right balance between hope and despair, and Meredith's will to survive and ability to take action in the face of her terror are an inspiration." -- KLIATT, January 2007
"Laura Wiess has created something really extraordinary with her novel Such A Pretty Girl (MTV books). This is an electrifying (and terrifying) look at a girl whose life has been torn apart by a sexual predator." -- Jennifer Laughran, NYMBC interview, January 2007
"This terrifying, powerful novel of child abuse and molestation is told by fifteen year-old Meredith as it is happening. Her voice is whip-smart, self-aware and full of dry humor... This novel is perfectly paced, the momentum never slowing as it races toward the inevitable showdown. Mature teens who enjoy realistic fiction with an edge will devour it." 4Q 4P S -- VOYA, December 2006
"Wow. I don't even know where to begin. I am completely blown away by this book. Raw and real." -- Kelly, The Bookworm, December 2006
"Tough, darkly humorous, yet achingly vulnerable. A nail-biter of an ending." --- Kirkus Reviews, starred review, September 2006
"This moving, powerful novel is one that should not be missed. When it is released in January, be at your local bookstore, ready to get a copy! It's an emotional book that is beautifully, powerfully written and unique, and it'll stay with you long past the last word." -- teenbookreviewer.blogspot.com, August 2006
"Very engrossing and a speedy read that will generate lots of word of mouth among students." MS, HS-ESSENTIAL --- yabookreviews.blogspot.com, July 2006
"A great find. It held my attention from the first page to the last. A great, suspenseful read." --- bookfurious.blogspot.com, June 2006
Brilliance comes in a small package. SUCH A PRETTY GIRL is deep and ravishing, dark and true. In the character of Meredith, Laura Wiess has created a girl to walk alongside Harper Lee's Scout and J.D. Salinger's Phoebe. Read this novel, and you will be changed forever. -- Luanne Rice, bestselling author of The Perfect Summer
"Such a Pretty Girl is beautifully written and painfully real. Laura Wiess has crafted a gripping story that is heart-rending -- and important, with a capital 'I.'" -- Barbara Delinsky, bestselling author of Flirting With Pete"Such a Pretty Girl is beautifully written and painfully real. Laura Wiess has crafted a gripping story that is heart-rending -- and important, with a capital 'I.'" -- Barbara Delinsky, bestselling author of
In clear, riveting prose, Laura Wiess boldly goes where other writers fear to tread. Such a Pretty Girl is gritty yet poetic, gut-churning yet uplifting -- a compelling, one-of-a-kind read. - A.M. Jenkins, author of Breaking Boxes, Damage, Out of Order, and Beating Heart
Brilliant! Such a Pretty Girl hooked me on page one and Laura Wiess' masterful prose kept me turning the pages. This is the first book in a very long time that made me say, "Wish I'd written this." - Ellen Hopkins, bestselling author of Crank, and Burned
“So suspenseful you’ll wish you’d taken a speed-reading course. But slow down, because to rush would mean missing Laura Wiess’s wonderfully precise language, her remarkable access to Meredith’s darkest emotions, and a shocker of an ending, which you'll want to read twice.” —Tara Altebrando, author of The Pursuit of Happiness
Such a Pretty Girl is a riveting novel and fifteen-year-old Meredith is a wholly original creation: a funny, wise, vulnerable girl with the heart of a hero and the courage of a warrior. This gut-wrenching story will stay with you long after you finish the last page. -- Lisa Tucker, author of The Song Reader, Shout Down the Moon, and Once Upon a Day
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