Dying to Know You
-
- $12.99
-
- $12.99
Publisher Description
Karl, aged seventeen, is hopelessly in love. But the object of his affections, Firella, demands proof, and poses him a series of questions regarding his attitude to the many sides of love. But Karl is dyslexic, and convinced that if Firella finds out, she will think he is stupid, and unworthy of her, and leave him.
So Karl asks a local writer to help him construct his replies - and an unlikely, but extremely touching, friendship develops between the two men. They both come to learn a great deal about about life from a very different perspective, and when an act of violence shatters their calm, they find their respective appraisal of life shifting in profound ways.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Packed to the brim with challenging ideas, the latest from Chambers winner of the Printz Award, Carnegie Medal, and Hans Christian Andersen Award, among others is simultaneously an acutely observed (and surprising) love story; the chronicle of a young man coming into his own as an artist; and a slippery, twisting examination of the art of storytelling. Events kick off when an unnamed 75-year-old author opens his door to an uninvited guest: Karl, an 18-year-old apprentice plumber, who seeks help fulfilling his literary-minded girlfriend's demand that he write to her about his "inner secrets." For Karl, who is dyslexic and naturally reserved, this kind of writing is nearly impossible. For the nameless author, the challenge enables him to reopen a part of his life he thought had closed forever. This organic yet intricately crafted story of self-discovery unfurls mainly through the elderly narrator's first-person account which, admittedly, may not be an easy sell for teens as well as e-mails and instant messages. For readers savvy enough to engage with it on any of its many levels, this is a generous gift. Ages 14 up.
