Watch Over Me
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- $9.99
Publisher Description
A modern ghost story about trauma and survival, Watch Over Me is the much-anticipated new novel from the Printz Award-winning author of We Are Okay
★ “Gripping; an emotion-packed must-read.” –Kirkus, starred review
★ “A painfully compelling gem from a masterful creator.” –Booklist, starred review
★ “Moving, unsettling, and full of atmospheric beauty.” –SLJ, starred review
Mila is used to being alone.
Maybe that’s why she said yes. Yes to a second chance in this remote place, among the flowers and the fog and the crash of waves far below.
But she hadn’t known about the ghosts.
Newly graduated from high school, Mila has aged out of the foster care system. So when she’s offered a teaching job and a place to live on an isolated part of the Northern California coast, she immediately accepts. Maybe she will finally find a new home—a real home. The farm is a refuge, but it’s also haunted by the past. And Mila’s own memories are starting to rise to the surface.
Nina LaCour, the Printz Award–winning author of We Are Okay, delivers another emotional knockout with Watch Over Me about trauma and survival, chosen family and rebirth.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Mila, 18, is thrilled to leave behind four years of foster care when she is given the opportunity to live and work at a picturesque coastal farm in Northern California whose owners, Terry and Julia, care for adopted children of all ages and bring on interns to share the workload. Mila, haunted by the events that led to her mother's abandoning her, wants desperately to believe that she is "good," and she strives to be a trusted companion and compassionate teacher to her sole student on the farm, nine-year-old Lee. The two bond over their similar histories, made-up fairy tales, and a shared sense of distance from the rest of the close-knit community, including their dislike of the ghosts that inhabit the idyllic, foggy farm. As mysterious gifts that link to Mila's past begin appearing on her doorstep, she confronts memories of childhood trauma, told in short interstitial chapters. Printz Medalist LaCour's (We Are Okay) portrait of a young woman yearning to belong and facing her past while navigating the liminal space between childhood and adulthood brims with tender moments and sensory details. Ages 14 up.
Customer Reviews
Beautiful and easy read
I’m giving it 4/5 stars.
The main character Mila has a tragic past that she wants nothing more than to work past. I loved her. I thought she was very strong, and someone I would look up to in life. The way she cares for Lee is very heartwarming and comforting.
this book was extremely short, I read it in about 2 hours, and I even made dinner throughout those two hours. I feel like there were a lot of wasted pages that could’ve had more content so readers could have connected with more characters and their backstories.
The romance between Billy and Liz as well as when they become really close with Mila is very odd. I still don’t understand that whole dynamic. It didn’t really add anything to the story, except confusion (to me anyway).
Foster children is a concept for stories that I haven’t read much on, and the farm lifestyle was very unique. This was a book I can’t compare to any other. I liked it a lot and recommend it for a fast read for characters with dark backstories