Our Song

by Jordanna Fraiberg

Overview

Olive Bell has spent her entire life in the beautiful suburb of Vista Valley, with a picture-perfect home, a loving family, and a seemingly perfect boyfriend. But after a near-fatal car accident, she’s haunted by a broken heart and a melody that she cannot place.

Then Olive meets Nick. He’s dark, handsome, mysterious . . . and Olive feels connected to him in a way she can’t explain. Is there such a thing as fate? The two embark on a whirlwind romance—until Nick makes a troubling confession.

Heartbroken, Olive pieces together what really happened the night of her accident and arrives at a startling revelation. Only by facing the truth can she uncover the mystery behind the song and the power of what it means to love someone.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781101604380
Publisher:	Penguin Young Readers Group
Publication date:	05/02/2013
Sold by:	Penguin Group
Format:	eBook
Pages:	352
File size:	1 MB
Age Range:	12 - 17 Years

About the Author

Jordanna Fraiberg was born in Montreal, Quebec, and currently lives in L.A., where she settled after receiving degrees from Harvard and Oxford. A former national squash champion and Hollywood film executive, she now divides her time between dreaming up stories and chasing her toddler. She is also the author of In Your Room. Check out her website at www.jordannafraiberg.com

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

"The resonant and poignant themes of memory, loss, and forgiveness haunt this novel the way the elusive song haunts its heroine."
-Huntley Fitzpatrick, author of My Life Next Door 

"From dreamer Charlie in In Your Room to tortured Nick in Our Song, Jordanna Fraiberg knows how to write a hero readers will fall in love with."
-Jennifer Echols, author of Love Story, Such A Rush, and The Boys Next Door 

"A tender and truthful story... Fraiberg lets this story be what it wants to be: one girl's story of finding true love and who she really is." 
-Publishers Weekly 

Editorial Reviews

Fraiberg (In Your Room) has written a tender and truthful story about a high school senior looking to reinvent herself after a brush with death. Everything changes for Olive Bell the night she runs her longtime boyfriend’s Mini Cooper into a pole in a near-fatal accident. Now Derek isn’t speaking to her, her mother is hovering like she expects Olive might slit her wrists, her father is keeping late hours, and her grades no longer feel important. Then Olive meets drop-dead gorgeous Nick at the Near-Death Society, a support group for people in her situation. Nick appears to know just what Olive needs to do to reconnect to the world, but he also has secrets. Olive’s waffling between Nick and Derek is at the core of Fraiberg’s story, but her subplots give it depth. Olive’s conflicts with her mother and her best friend help her make some much-needed realizations, as does a touching reminiscence with her father. Still, Fraiberg lets this story be what it wants to be: one girl’s story of finding true love and who she really is. Ages 12–up. Agent: Tina Wexler, ICM. (May)

Publishers Weekly

"The resonant and poignant themes of memory, loss, and forgiveness haunt this novel the way the elusive song haunts its heroine."
-Huntley Fitzpatrick, author of My Life Next Door 

"From dreamer Charlie in In Your Room to tortured Nick in Our Song, Jordanna Fraiberg knows how to write a hero readers will fall in love with."
-Jennifer Echols, author of Love Story, Such A Rush, and The Boys Next Door 

"A tender and truthful story... Fraiberg lets this story be what it wants to be: one girl's story of finding true love and who she really is." 
-Publishers Weekly 

From the Publisher

Gr 8 Up—On the night of a terrible fight with her seemingly perfect boyfriend, Derek, Olive stole his car. She ended up having an accident and was seriously injured; her heart even stopped beating for three minutes. Once she has recovered enough to return to school, she finds everything (except for her best friend, Annie) has changed: her now ex-boyfriend has a new girlfriend and students are gossiping about her. Plus, her parents and the school administration think her accident was a failed suicide attempt. Olive has no real memories of that night, but she is haunted by a song that she has never heard before that is constantly on her mind. When her mother insists that she attend a suicide support group, Olive begins to go to a group for those who have had near-death experiences instead. There she meets bad-boy Nick; he whisks her out of her depression and the stagnant world of her Vista Valley suburb. Olive is perfect as flawed character; she is often mean to her best friend and her adoring younger brother, and she can't let go of the past. The plot is almost clichéd-girl and boy break up, girl finds new boyfriend, old boyfriend wants girl back, girl must choose between them-but the unforgettable and eerie quality of the song and the secrets (both those purposefully kept and those that memory can't retrieve) raise it beyond the normal teen romance.—Janet Hilbun, Texas Women's University, Denton, TX

School Library Journal

Having been revived after her heart stopped beating for three minutes, Olive is given a second chance at life and love. Olive tries hard to convince herself and others that she didn't drive into that tree on purpose. Even though she was devastated by her breakup with her boyfriend Derek. Even though she was speeding and she didn't slow down at the curve in the road. Alive but not well, 18-year-old Olive returns to school. Now, however, Derek has a new girlfriend, Olive's grades are slipping, and she's got this inexplicable song continually swirling about in her head. At a gathering of near-death enthusiasts, Olive meets Nick, a mercurial young man with an English accent. He makes her feel valued and beautiful, but there's something he's not revealing. There's a slim mystery threaded throughout, but this story has all the elements of a formulaic romance: Jerk boyfriend breaks girl's heart, girl meets new guy, ex comes begging back, girl has misunderstanding with new guy, true love prevails. Olive is wishy-washy, obsessive and has no real sense of self. Eventually, she begins to clear her boy-befuddled brain to better understand her family and create some goals for herself. Irritatingly, the song's mystical origins come as a stunningly anticlimactic nonrevelation. Readers looking for an undemanding beach read may find a few hours' pleasure here. (Fiction. 13-18)

Kirkus Reviews