Staff Reviews & Reader’s Guides
Recent Reviews:
Message form an Unknown Chinese Mother
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The Book of Lies: A Novel (P.S.) by Mary Horlock
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The Magician's Elephant
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The Tiger's Wife
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Enduring Love
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A Love Story Starring My Dead Best Friend
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An unconventional story of friendship...
A Love Story Starring My Dead Best Friend by Emily Horner Horner weaves a tale of loyalty, love, and loss in this novel featuring Cass, who has recently endured the death of her best friend, Julia. Julia, who perished in a late night car accident in the rain, had long been the object of Cass's love, even though Cass does not realize her feelings until it is too late. While Julia's boyfriend, Oliver, and the rest of her drama friends band together to bring Julia's secret project- "Totally Sweet Ninja Death Squad"- to the stage, Cass decides to honor Julia's memory by embarking on the cross-country trip they had planned to California with a credit card for emergencies, a tent, protein bars, her bicycle, and Julia's ashes. The catalysts to her journey are the palpable jealousy between Cass and Oliver over who loved Julia more and the naming of Heather, Cass's middle school homophobic nemesis, as the lead in Julia's musical. Along the way, both on her road trip and as she works on the play afterward, Cass encounters places and truths that were always over the horizon and in her mind's periphery, and she learns the valuable lesson that age can bring transformation. The alternating chapters between past and present slow down the plot, but the tender portrayal of Cass's development keeps this book afloat.
