Read Me Like a Book
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- $12.99
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- $12.99
Publisher Description
Ashleigh Walker is a mediocre student with an assortment of friends, a sort-of boyfriend, and no plans for the future. Then a straight-from-college English teacher, Miss Murray, takes over Ash’s class and changes everything. Miss Murray smiles a lot. She shares poetry with curse words in it. She’s, well, cool. And she seems to really care about her students. About Ashleigh. For the first time, Ash feels an urge to try harder. To give something — someone — her best. Before she knows it, Ashleigh is in love. Intense, heart-racing, all-consuming first love. It’s strong enough to distract her from worrying about bad grades and her parents’ marriage troubles. But what will happen if Miss Murray finds out Ashleigh is in love with her?
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
British teenager Ash Walker is meandering through life. She isn't terribly interested in school, hasn't applied to college, has a boyfriend she's not excited about, and is watching her parents' marriage collapse. Then a young, passionate teacher takes over Ash's English class and makes her brain and heart come alive. Not only does Miss Murray see Ash's hidden smarts, she also turns out to be gay, which helps Ash begin to realize that she is, too. Kessler (the Emily Windsnap series) wrote this novel, her first for teens, more than a decade ago and shelved it, in part because of a British law that forbid the promotion of homosexuality in schools. With the passage of time, the most eye-raising aspect is that in Miss Murray's efforts to mentor Ash, she inadvertently encourages her crush. While the coming-out story line may be familiar, the idea that you have to know who you are in order to figure out where you want to go is a powerful one for readers examining their own identities. Ages 14 up.