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Photo: Barbara Stuber
High res cover: Girl in Reverse
Girl in Reverse
Margaret K. McElderry Books | ISBN 9781442497344
When Lily was three, her mother put her up for adoption, then disappeared without a trace. Or so Lily was told. Lily grew up in her new family and tried to forget her past. But with the Korean War raging and fear of “commies” everywhere, Lily’s Asian heritage makes her a target. She is sick of the racism she faces, a fact her adoptive parents won’t take seriously. For Lily, war is everywhere—the dinner table, the halls at school, and especially within her own skin.
Then her brainy little brother, Ralph, finds a box hidden in the attic. In it are a baffling jumble of broken antiques—clues to her past left by her “Gone Mom.” Lily and Ralph attempt to match these fragments with rare Chinese artifacts at the art museum. She encounters the artistic genius Elliot James, who attracts and infuriates Lily as he tries to draw out the beauty of her golden heritage. Will Lily summon the courage to confront her own remarkable creation story? The real story, and one she can know only by coming face-to-face with the truth long buried within the people she thought she knew best.
Press
Thorpe Menn Literary Excellence Award winner!
GIR won the 2015 Thorpe Menn this October.
A Kansas Notable book.
GIR was honored among 2015’s Notable books.
An International Literacy Association YA honor book for 2015!
GIL made the honor list for the ILA award this July. The ILA awards are “reserved for first and second books by authors who display what’s referred to as ‘unusual promise.’”
An NPR pick for the Best Books of 2014!
Girl in Reverse was among the best in 5 categories: History Lovers, Historical Fiction, Realistic Fiction, The Dark Side and Young Adult.
Starred Publisher’s Weekly
…Stuber (Crossing the Tracks) creates a remarkable journey of self-discovery, inner resilience, and the fragile, surprising, and exquisite complexity of family.
Kirkus Reviews
“Beautiful sensory detail.”
Booklist
“A poetic, introspective story of a girl caught between two worlds.”
Kansas City Star
“…Girl in Reverse offers what feels like a refresher course in being human.”