September 24, 2012
Avery's raw and absorbing debut novel examines the painful aftermath of an aspiring athlete's five-year coma. During a dive at the Olympic trials, 17-year-old Bryce Graham hits her head and later wakes up in the hospital. To Bryce, the accident feels like it happened yesterday, yet everything has changed: her diving dream is shattered; her sister who was 12 when the accident occurred is now an out-of-control 17-year-old; and her best friend and boyfriend have moved on with their lives, traveling the world and graduating college without her. But Bryce's biggest challenge is an internal one: her brain works differently now, and she is having hallucinations that draw from her past as well as from events that have yet to happen. Avery offers only a vague explanation for Bryce's visions of the future, which may frustrate readers searching for either a supernatural cause or a diagnosis rooted in science. But Bryce's courage, tenacity, and determination result in a memorable story about seizing the day. Ages 12âup. Agent: Sarah Shandler and Michael Ross, Alloy Entertainment.
August 1, 2012
After 17-year-old Bryce strikes her head on a diving platform during a competition, she awakens from a coma five years later to a vastly changed world. Her parents' marriage is failing, her sweet younger sister Sydney has turned into a hard-drinking goth, her boyfriend Greg is engaged to her best friend, and a cute medical student from the hospital, Carter, has seemingly fallen in love with her. It's a lot to miss out on. Bryce recovers quickly, but now she's subject to brief, painful flashes of foresight: She's able to see tragic events before they occur, a paranormal twist that, arising infrequently, hardly seems to matter to the plot and feels like an afterthought. Melodrama abounds as shadowy stock extras--everyone but Bryce--encounter predictable steamy situations. Fortunately, third-person narration provides much-needed depth to Bryce's character in this uneven debut. Readers in the know will remark that competitive divers do not wear goggles, as Bryce appears to do. A silly medical twist offers a look ahead to a gloomy future for the protagonist, and a strange literary contrivance featuring cicadas comes up from time to time but adds nothing but a bit of oddness. Still, readers who enjoy a dampened-Kleenex conclusion will probably beg for more. (Fiction. 12-16)
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December 1, 2012
Gr 7 Up-When Bryce miraculously awakens from a five-year coma caused by a diving accident, she is still 17 years old emotionally, and it's hard for her to process how much has happened in the lives of her family and friends. Her then boyfriend and best girlfriend, Gabby, are now engaged, her little sister has become a troubled teenager, and her parents put their lives on hold to watch over her while she was in the hospital. She also struggles with the realization of what her life is like now. Her dreams of being an Olympic diving champion are over, and she must look beyond her teenage goals to try to discover who the 22-year-old Bryce is and what she wants to be. While still in the hospital, she meets cute, dependable Carter, an intern who becomes more than just a good friend. However, she still has feelings for her old boyfriend, and he is torn between his love for Bryce and his commitment to Gabby. Then Bryce receives the devastating news that she is not expected to live more than a month longer. This story is an interesting look at how different people deal with tragedy and how it affects their lives both before and after Bryce awakens. The main characters are fully developed, and readers can easily empathize with them. The plot holds few surprises except for the ending. Girls looking for a happy/sad romantic story will love this one.-Nancy P. Reeder, Heathwood Hall Episcopal School, Columbia, SC
Copyright 2012 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
September 15, 2012
Grades 8-12 When Bryce Graham wakes up from a coma five years after a diving accident at the Olympic trials, she finds her world has completely changed: her playful little sister is a sullen teenager; her estranged parents barely speak; and her boyfriend and her best friend have graduated from Stanford, become an item, and just gotten engaged. Although she is now 22, Bryce's knowledge and experience are those of the 17-year-old she was at the time of the accidentwith one exception. Bryce knows things that she shouldn't, some that happened while she was in the coma and some that haven't happened yet. Fortunately, there's a handsome young med student who takes a special interest in her case. While the romance and illness aspects of the plot are comfortably predictable, Avery captures the fascination of the line between life and death with tender and lyrical prose. Popular culture details will date the story in time, but current romance readers seeking a good cry will immediately start rereading this debut novel and make a note of Avery's name.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2012, American Library Association.)
January 1, 2013
Bryce wakes up from a coma after a diving accident; it turns out it's been five years and things have changed completely. With the help of the cute med student Carter, she turns her life around. A paranormal twist feels tacked on, and while the third-person voice is somewhat involving, the story is underdeveloped.
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