Jessica Verdi

What You Left Behind Jessica Verdi

Publisher Marketing: Jessica Verdi, the author of My Life After Now and The Summer I Wasn't Me, returns with a heartbreaking and poignant novel of grief and guilt that reads like Nicholas Sparks for teens. It's all Ryden's fault. If he hadn't gotten Meg pregnant, she would have never stopped her chemo treatments and would still be alive. Instead he's failing fatherhood one dirty diaper at a time. And it's not like he's had time to grieve while struggling to care for their infant daughter, start his senior year, and earn the soccer scholarship he needs to go to college. The one person who makes Ryden feel like his old self is Joni. She's fun and energetic-and doesn't know he has a baby. But the more time they spend together, the harder it becomes to keep his two worlds separate. Finding one of Meg's journals only stirs up old emotions. Ryden's convinced Meg left other notebooks for him to find, some message to help his new life make sense. But how is he going to have a future if he can't let go of the past?"Ryden's story is a moving illustration of how sometimes you have to let go of the life you planned to embrace the life you've been given. A strong, character-driven story that teen readers will love."-Carrie Arcos, National Book Award Finalist for Out of Reach Review Citations: Kirkus Reviews 05/01/2015 pg. 107 (EAN 9781492608745, Paperback) Booklist 06/01/2015 pg. 103 (EAN 9781492608745, Paperback) School Library Journal 06/01/2015 pg. 130 (EAN 9781492608745, Paperback) - *Starred Review Kirkus Reviews 05/01/2015 (EAN 9781492614401, Hardcover) School Library Journal 06/01/2015 pg. 130 (EAN 9781492614401, Hardcover) - *Starred Review Booklist 06/01/2015 pg. 103 (EAN 9781492614401, Hardcover) Contributor Bio:  Verdi, Jessica Jessica Verdi lives in Brooklyn, NY, and received her MFA in Writing for Children from The New School. She loves seltzer, Tabasco sauce, TV, vegetarian soup, flip-flops, and her dog. Visit her at www.jessicaverdi.com and follow her on Twitter @jessverdi.