Cold Girls

by Maxine Rae

Overview

Eighteen-year-old Rory Quinn-Morelli doesn't want to die; she wants refuge from reality for even a minute: the reality where she survived the car crash eight months ago, and her best friend, Liv, didn't. Yet her exasperating mother won't believe the Xanax incident was an accident, and her therapist is making it increasingly hard to maintain the detached, impenetrable "cold girl" façade she adopted from Liv. After she unintentionally reconnects with Liv's parents, Rory must decide: will she keep Liv's and her secrets inside, or will she finally allow herself to break? And if she breaks, what will she unearth amid the pieces?

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781635830903
Publisher:	North Star Editions
Publication date:	08/22/2023
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	352
File size:	2 MB
Age Range:	14 - 18 Years

About the Author

Maxine Rae attended Tulane University where she was taught and singled out for commendation by two-time National Book Award winner Jesmyn Ward. While working on Cold Girls, Maxine received feedback and mentorship from National Book Award Finalist Charles Baxter. She later revised and workshopped the manuscript in the selective Novel-In-a-Year program at StoryStudio Chicago, whose artistic director is Pulitzer Prize in Fiction Finalist and Andrew Carnegie Medal winner Rebecca Makkai. As a young, queer woman from the Chicago area, Maxine has written a debut molded by personal experience and emotional truth.

Editorial Reviews

"[A] poignant, deeply moving portrait of friendship and grief. . . . Reading like a next-generation Perks of Being a Wallflower, this is the perfect what’s-next for readers who cried their way through Benway’s A Year to the Day and Thao’s You’ve Reached Sam, or those who appreciate the power of a life-changing friendship." —The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books

“A heart-wrenching story of friendship, grief, and identity. . . .The heart of Liv and Rory’s story, the painstaking confrontation of loss, and the unconditional embrace of a parent’s love are deftly threaded through the pristine prose. However, it is Rory’s teetering between then and now that tethers all this unbearable beauty as she tackles the exquisiteness of healing, acceptance, and love. A vibrant and poignant must-read.” —Kirkus Reviews, starred review

"Deftly crafted . . . . Cold Girls is unreservedly recommended for middle school, high school, and community library YA Fiction & LGBTQ collections." —Midwest Book Review

“[T]his story provides a cathartic and nuanced slice-of-life for high schoolers to see themselves in.” —Children’s Literature

From the Publisher

★ 2023-08-22
A heart-wrenching story of friendship, grief, and identity.

Eighteen-year-old Rory Quinn-Morelli is grieving the death of her best friend, Liv Martinez; she’s been forced into therapy by her mother, who’s “on a mission to fix” Rory after the “Xanax Incident.” Faculty kid Rory, who reads white, met Liv when she showed up late to Telsey College Prep’s fifth-period choir in a bathrobe. Rory was instantly transfixed, doing a deep dive on Insta and finding Liv’s profile, “Bio: she/her ** filipinx ** irritated” (Liv’s mom is cued white). Choir brings them together, music bonds them—from Bowie to Amy Winehouse, they create “endless, chaotic” playlists for each other. Liv draws Rory into her friend group and away from Rory’s gay friend, Stoff. Rory and Liv spend the next year going to parties, seeing bands, and hanging out. When Liv starts hooking up with classmate Milo, Rory experiences a telltale “tug” in her stomach. It doesn’t make things weird, but it does awaken Rory. Until, that is, the “Worst Night,” when a car crash ends Liv’s life, Rory at her side. The heart of Liv and Rory’s story, the painstaking confrontation of loss, and the unconditional embrace of a parent’s love are deftly threaded through the pristine prose. However, it is Rory’s teetering between then and now that tethers all this unbearable beauty as she tackles the exquisiteness of healing, acceptance, and love.

A vibrant and poignant must-read. (Fiction. 14-18)

Kirkus Reviews