Read Me Like a Book

by Liz Kessler

Overview

In her first novel for young adults, New York Times best-selling author Liz Kessler tells a story about finding a kindred spirit and becoming your true self.

Ashleigh Walker is a mediocre student with an assortment of friends, a sort-of boyfriend, and no plans for the future. Then a straight-from-college English teacher, Miss Murray, takes over Ash’s class and changes everything. Miss Murray smiles a lot. She shares poetry with curse words in it. She’s, well, cool. And she seems to really care about her students. About Ashleigh. For the first time, Ash feels an urge to try harder. To give something — someone — her best. Before she knows it, Ashleigh is in love. Intense, heart-racing, all-consuming first love. It’s strong enough to distract her from worrying about bad grades and her parents’ marriage troubles. But what will happen if Miss Murray finds out Ashleigh is in love with her?

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780763688578
Publisher:	Candlewick Press
Publication date:	06/14/2016
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Lexile:	HL590L (what's this?)
File size:	729 KB
Age Range:	14 - 17 Years

About the Author

Liz Kessler is the author of the best-selling Emily Windsnap series, the Philippa Fisher series, and the middle-grade novels North of Nowhere, A Year Without Autumn, and Has Anyone Seen Jessica Jenkins? She lives in Cornwall, England.

When Liz was quite young (about eight) she wanted to be a poet. She grew up and did lots of other things, but then in 1999 she suddenly realized she wanted to write a book. She says, “It was as though I’d remembered what I’d always wanted to do, and I’ve never looked back.”

About mermaids, she says, “I am fascinated by the sea and all the mysteries of the ocean. It’s so huge and there is so much of it that we haven’t discovered and know nothing about. To me, mermaids represent the possibilities of what might just exist, on the edges of our imaginations and our world.”

Liz recently spent a year traveling around Europe in a camper van with her best friend and her dog, Poppy. She lives in England.

Editorial Reviews

03/21/2016
British teenager Ash Walker is meandering through life. She isn’t terribly interested in school, hasn’t applied to college, has a boyfriend she’s not excited about, and is watching her parents’ marriage collapse. Then a young, passionate teacher takes over Ash’s English class and makes her brain and heart come alive. Not only does Miss Murray see Ash’s hidden smarts, she also turns out to be gay, which helps Ash begin to realize that she is, too. Kessler (the Emily Windsnap series) wrote this novel, her first for teens, more than a decade ago and shelved it, in part because of a British law that forbid the promotion of homosexuality in schools. With the passage of time, the most eye-raising aspect is that in Miss Murray’s efforts to mentor Ash, she inadvertently encourages her crush. While the coming-out story line may be familiar, the idea that you have to know who you are in order to figure out where you want to go is a powerful one for readers examining their own identities. Ages 14–up. Agent: Catherine Clarke, Felicity Bryan Associates. (June)

Publishers Weekly

Taking risks both large and small—and growing from them—is a recurring theme of this story, from Ash's shoplifting on a dare with a rebellious friend to coming out to her parents on her 18th birthday. The English setting (including frequent pub visits and colorful slang) adds a rich dimension, as do the well-rounded characters whose flaws make them all the more sympathetic. With an absorbing plot and believable dialogue, this novel demonstrates respect for teens' fears and desires, ending on a hopeful note that steers clear of unconvincing platitudes.
—Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

...the idea that you have to know who you are in order to figure out where you want to go is a powerful one for readers examining their own identities.
—Publishers Weekly

It’s refreshing to see depicted a student whose road ahead is so fuzzy...what makes this book compelling is its rich characterizations, particularly Ash’s parents, who grapple with their own attempts at finding love again. Far from just a story about a teen crushing on her teacher, this is about a teen discovering her sexuality and her own strength in the process.
—Booklist

Luckily for the reading world, Kessler tucked [Read Me Like a Book] away safely for a future when readers would not only tolerate a funny, honest, bittersweet story of coming out, but clamor for it. Ash is authentic as a teen for whom light and love dawneth simultaneously. And Miss Murray is spectacular in her role as a teacher-guide who must walk the delicate line between support and inappropriateness.
—Shelf Awareness for Readers

Readers...will appreciate the patient searching depicted here.
—Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books

From the Publisher

05/01/2016
Gr 9 Up—Ashleigh is entering her sixth-form year, and her life is in chaos. There are fights at home, her best friend has grown distant, and there's a possibility that she might have a real boyfriend for the first time. The strangest thing of all is that she's beginning to care about school, and it's all thanks to her English teacher, Miss Murray. Kessler has written about how this, her first novel, sat in a drawer unpublished for 15 years due to UK government restrictions on publishing gay and lesbian content for children and young adults. And it shows. This book feels dated, despite a veneer of modern references and technology. The writing does not feel vital, even when Ashleigh is discovering her sexual identity and her obsession with her teacher. For young Anglophiles, this look into British teen life will be welcome, but for those not already versed in British culture, the differences are stark and difficult to parse, including the mechanics of secondary schooling, attitudes toward drinking, and important class signifiers. VERDICT An additional purchase.—L. Lee Butler, Hart Middle School, Washington, DC

School Library Journal

★ 2016-03-02
Life is messy, people are imperfect—but Ashleigh learns that love really is all you need in this bighearted story of honesty and acceptance. Parents who are fighting incessantly, a best friend whose path is diverging from her own, a boyfriend who wants their physical relationship to progress faster than she's comfortable with—these are just a few of the things Ash is wrestling with. As if that weren't enough, although usually an indifferent student, the white teen finds her new English A-level teacher, Miss Murray, inexplicably entrancing. A self-proclaimed "expert at skirting around anything that might resemble a genuine feeling," Ash tries to ignore her problems in the vain hope that they will somehow go away, but instead she finds that the only thing that vanishes is her closeness to the people she loves. Taking risks both large and small—and growing from them—is a recurring theme of this story, from Ash's shoplifting on a dare with a rebellious friend to coming out to her parents on her 18th birthday. The English setting (including frequent pub visits and colorful slang) adds a rich dimension, as do the well-rounded characters whose flaws make them all the more sympathetic. With an absorbing plot and believable dialogue, this novel demonstrates respect for teens' fears and desires, ending on a hopeful note that steers clear of unconvincing platitudes. (Fiction. 14 & up)

Kirkus Reviews