The Wonder of Us

by Kim Culbertson

Overview

"The Wonder of Us is an epic journey of love and friendship, forgiveness and possibility." -Jennifer Nivens, New York Times bestselling author of All the Bright Places

Riya and Abby are:Best friends.Complete opposites.Living on different continents.Currently mad at each other.About to travel around Europe. Riya moved to Berlin, Germany, with her family for junior year, while Abby stayed behind in their small California town. They thought it would be easy to keep up their friendship-it's only a year and they've been best friends since preschool. But instead, they ended up fighting and not being there for the other. So Riya proposes an epic adventure to fix their friendship. Two weeks, six countries, unimaginable fun. But two small catches: They haven't talked in weeks. They've both been keeping secrets. Can Riya and Abby find their way back to each other among lush countrysides and dazzling cities, or does growing up mean growing apart?

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780545731522
Publisher:	Scholastic, Inc.
Publication date:	04/25/2017
Sold by:	Scholastic, Inc.
Format:	eBook
Pages:	336
Lexile:	740L (what's this?)
File size:	7 MB
Age Range:	12 - 17 Years

About the Author

Kim Culbertson is the author of The Wonder of Us; The Possibility of Now; Catch a Falling Star; Instructions for a Broken Heart, a Northern California Book Award winner; and Songs for a Teenage Nomad. She lives in Northern California with her husband and daughter, her favorite travel companions. For more about Kim, visit www.kimculbertson.com.

Read an Excerpt

I don't recognize Riya at first. She has cut her waist-length hair and not just her usual trim. It's half a foot shorter and has actual layers, tousled but purposely so. She wears a plum-colored tank dress with a chunky belt, dangly silver earrings, and aviator glasses. Apparently, Europe looks good on Riya. “Abby!” she squeals, spotting me, and hurries to engulf me in a floral-scented hug. After a year, after this stupid, harsh year, I thought I might be too angry to hug her, to pretend we aren't furious with each other, to act like we never said all those things the last time we talked, but it's Riya and she's hugging me, and I've missed her so much and I'm exhausted from the travel and from this year, so I melt into her. After a moment, she steps back, takes my bag, and slings it over her shoulder. “How was the flight?” Exhausted, I babble random history thoughts at her. “I couldn't stop thinking about how a hundred years ago, people were just starting to consider that a transatlantic flight was possible. Weird, right?” Nodding, Riya tries to follow my line of thought as she leads me toward the airport exit. “I mean, I couldn't stop thinking about Charles Lindbergh and the Spirit of St. Louis and how he was just alone up there in the sky above all that dark water.” As we walk into the hot Italian air, Riya takes my hand. “I missed you.” “Missed you more.”

Editorial Reviews

02/13/2017
Best friends Abby and Riya shared everything until Riya’s family moved to Berlin and Abby stayed behind in California. Abby has been miserable ever since Riya left—she’s lonely, and her parents have gone through a terrible divorce. In an effort to repair their friendship and console Abby, Riya surprises her with an all-expenses-paid European trip, a gift from Riya’s grandmother, Bharti Nani. Through Abby and Riya’s alternating points of view, Culbertson (The Possibility of Now) takes readers on a whirlwind tour of Florence, Zurich, Berlin, Edinburgh, and London, with ample space in the girls’ narration dedicated to chronicling the famous sites they visit. Despite the girls’ adventures, their friendship has frequent ups and downs as they struggle with the many ways in which they have grown apart—namely how Riya’s life has changed so dramatically while Abby’s has stayed the same. Friendship troubles aside, Culbertson’s story is a giddy travelogue with occasional romantic interludes for both girls. It’s an airy and largely predictable story, but also one that should please any reader nursing dreams of European getaways. Ages 12–up. Agent: Melissa Sarver White, Folio Literary Management. (Apr.)

Publishers Weekly

Praise for The Wonder of Us"The Wonder of Us is an epic journey of love and friendship, forgiveness and possibility. And hope. So much hope. The novel itself is a beautiful wonder, and I would follow Riya and Abby anywhere." —Jennifer Niven, New York Times bestselling author of All the Bright Places and Holding Up the Universe"Culbertson has penned an intense, engaging story of two very different girls with a symbiotic relationship and their poignant struggle to make the friendship keep working . . . The witty, sensitive story — with strongly drawn characters and a fun, vividly described tour, topped off by a creative scavenger hunt — will capture and celebrate BFFs." — Booklist"This novel in two voices keeps the pages turning as each protagonist tries to figure out if their friendship still works for her. A classic case of opposites attracting, both Abby and Riya are well-drawn and dynamic characters. A nuanced, positive vision of an evolving friendship." — Kirkus Reviews"This is a vivid story of growing older and apart. The protagonists' personalities come off the page." — School Library JournalPraise for The Possibility of Now"A solid read for realistic fiction addicts." —School Library Journal"Anyone who has felt the pressure to be number one will empathize with Mara's struggle to accept setbacks, move forward, and feel the joy of spontaneity." —Publishers Weekly"This will hit close to home for many teens." —BooklistPraise for Catch a Falling Star"Culbertson writes with sensitivity and sympathy, crafting an entertaining but perceptive character study." —Kirkus Reviews"Culbertson is a capable writer, and she gives Carter a good heart that shines through." —Publishers Weekly"[R]eaders will enjoy every minute of Carter and Adam's revelatory moments and conflicts." —School Library Journal"Thoughtful and romantic, Catch a Falling Star shines with insight about the choices we make and the worlds we create." —Jessi Kirby, author of The Things We Know by Heart, In Honor, and Golden

From the Publisher

03/01/2017
Gr 7 Up—Riya and Abby have been friends since preschool, but Riya moving to Germany for a year has drastically changed their relationship. An argument has severely damaged their bond. In an attempt to fix things, Riya suggests Abby join her on her Grand Tour of Europe, paid for by Riya's grandmother. The girls meet in Florence, each one ready to try to heal the rift. They're joined by Riya's older cousin Neel, their chaperone. Many things have changed for them in the year they've been apart: Abby's parents announced their divorce, and she has spent the last few months taking care of her father. Riya had a much harder time adjusting to a foreign country than she thought, but she's found an outlet and new friends to help her decide her future. The pair travel to Italy, Switzerland, Germany, Scotland, Iceland, and finally England. Along the way, the girls reveal their secrets and heartaches and struggle to find balance and a new way forward. Told from both teens' points of view in alternating chapters, this is a vivid story of growing older and apart. The protagonists' personalities come off the page and are distinct. There are few secondary characters, but they are also well-developed, although Riya and Abby are at the novel's center. Recommend to readers who enjoy realistic fiction, alternating voices, and novels about friendship and forgiveness. VERDICT A general purchase for light, friendship-focused YA collections.—Natalie Struecker, Atlantic Public Library, IA

School Library Journal

2017-02-04
Two best friends attempt to reconnect after a year apart, but their secrets might divide them forever.Riya and Abby have been best friends since preschool, but their friendship is shaken when Riya spends a year in Berlin with her parents. Living abroad opens Indian-American Riya's eyes to a whole new world, while, back in California, white Abby copes with her parents' split up, feeling forsaken. With the financial support of her grandmother, Riya proposes a whirlwind European vacation to allow the best friends to get past their estrangement. As they jet from Italy to Switzerland to Germany, Scotland to Iceland to England, with only Riya's British-Indian cousin Neel as a chaperone, the two friends slowly work to repair their friendship. But Riya still has a secret to reveal, and Abby finds herself sharing a secret with Neel. When those secrets come out, Abby and Riya must decide whether to give up on their lifelong friendship or to find a way to keep evolving without losing the bedrock of their friendship. This novel in two voices keeps the pages turning as each protagonist tries to figure out if their friendship still works for her. A classic case of opposites attracting, both Abby and Riya are well-drawn and dynamic characters. A nuanced, positive vision of an evolving friendship. (Fiction. 14-18)

Kirkus Reviews