Goodbye Stranger (Winner Of The Guardian Fiction Prize)

Description: Bridge has always been a bit of an oddball, but since she recovered from a serious accident, she's found fitting in with her friends increasingly hard. Tab and Em are getting cooler and better and they don't get why she insists on wearing novelty cat ears every day. Bridge just thinks they look good. It's getting harder to keep their promise of no fights, especially when they start keeping secrets from each other. Sherm wants to get to know Bridge better. But he's hiding the anger he feels at his grandfather for walking out. And then there is another girl, who is struggling with an altogether more serious set of friendship troubles... Told from interlinked points of view, this is a bittersweet story about the trials of friendship and growing up.

Review: "Masterly. . . Sensitively explores togetherness, aloneness, betrayal and love" -- Meg Wolitzer * New York Times * "A glorious celebration of love, friendship and betrayal that draws attention to the increasingly difficult problem of retaining one's own identity in a time of obsessive social media." -- Sally Morris * Daily Mail * "A must-read for any child at secondary school... I can't think of any contemporary children's author who is as good at humanising teenagers and conveying the business of growing up." -- Alex O'Connell * The Times, Books of the Year * "A touching and gentle love story... Stead is respectful of individuality and generous, witty and nonjudgemental about the confusion caused by falling in love." -- Julia Eccleshare * Guardian, The Best of 2015 * "A deft and witty coming of age drama" * Independent * "A novel that tackles big themes in a wry understated way." * Martin Chilton, The Telegraph * "An extraordinary novel" * Washington Post, The Best Children's Books of 2015 * "Bittersweet story from multi-award-winner Stead. Highly recommended." * The Bookseller, Fiona Noble * "Memorable story about female friendships, silly bets, different kinds of love, and bad decisions is authentic in detail and emotion-another Stead hallmark." * Publishers Weekly, starred review * "Superb" * Kirkus, starred review * "Immensely satisfying" * School Library Journal, starred review * "Winsome, bighearted and altogether rewarding" * Booklist, starred review * "Full of ideas, insight and real depth, this beautifully told story examines love and friendship in all their forms, and asks us all to think about who we are" * Andrea Reece, Lovereading Book of the Month * "This eloquent story of friendship, first love, and identity will resonate powerfully with readers" * VOYA, starred review * "This astonishingly profound novel is not your average middle-school friendship tale" * The Horn Book, starred review * "Deeply empathetic and honest" * Boston Globe, The Best Books of 2015 * "An emotional coming-of-age novel in a technological age" * Inis * "The new experiences and complicated feelings that are the rite of passage through which early adolescents must tread are artfully told through engaging and plausible characters." * The School Librarian * "I don't know how Stead manages to be so wise, so playful and so joyous in every single sentence she writes. It's blissful reading." -- Anna James * A Case For Books * "As always, New York springs to life under Stead's pen... a pleasure to read from start to finish" * MinervaReads *





Author Biography: Rebecca Stead grew up in New York City where she lives today with her husband and two sons. Rebecca used to be a lawyer and wrote books for adults before turning to younger fiction. Her second book for children, When You Reach Me, won the Newbery Medal 2010, and her follow-up, Liar and Spy, was the winner of the Guardian Children's Fiction Prize. She now combines her writing with work as a literary agent

From Newbery Medal winner Rebecca Stead comes another bittersweet story about friendship, growing up and having the courage to stand up for what's right.