Adele Griffin

Being seriously injured in a car accident and requiring months of hospitalization and rehabilitation is awful enough. To find out that the passenger in the car you were driving died is even worse. But possibly the worst thing would be not to remember what happened weeks prior to and the day of the accident and to not know who the passenger was. Adele Griffin tackles this in loud awake and lost. Ember has no idea who Anthony, the passenger, was. All she knows is that she was on her way from show more Brooklyn to Mount Kisco to visit her aunt on that icy day. All she knows is that she was saved and he wasn’t. That is a terrible burden.

Her best friend, Rebecca, and her ex-boyfriend, Holden, make statements about ‘before’ the accident, but Ember has no clue. Ember knows she and Holden had broken up weeks before.

But memory is a funny thing and even small, insignificant events and statements can spark a memory, and so it does with Ember. She visits places she visited ‘before’ and sees people she hung out with ‘before’ and memories start to return in bits and pieces.

If that was all there was to loud awake and lost, it would be fine. But in the hands of Adele Griffin, it is more. The writing is vivid. The trail of Ember’s memory is awesome. The ending is unbelievable…not in the sense you can’t believe it, but in the sense you don’t see it coming (or at least I didn’t). My favorite character, although a small (but pivotal) character, is Isabella. The reaction of everyone, from family to close friends to acquaintances, seems right on. You just want to keep on reading to find out what happens.

There’s suspense. There’s self discovery. There’s lost girl trying to find herself. One of the best books I’ve read this year. show less

I love Adele Griffin. I love the strength of her voice, the intense and multi-dimensional characters she creates, and the landscapes she's able to build whether working in a realistic or a magical world.

Right now I'm in love with her book ALL YOU NEVER WANTED, a "poor little rich girl(s)" story, in which two sisters have undergone not-so-subtle psychological changes after their mother married a wealthy man and they went from living hand-to-mouth with part time jobs and knock-off clothes to show more having way fancy cars, living in a McMansion, and going from known to notorious in school.

Alex was always the pretty, popular, everyone-wants-to-be-her sister. And she wishes she could still be that girl, in a way. But the problem is, her stepdad's connections got her this amazing internship, and this summer should have been amazing. But something happened that lead her to run away from the internship. And now she can barely get her car out of the driveway. She doesn't want to eat, can hardly function, and her disinterest in her boyfriend is pushing him away.

Her sister Thea can't stand it. She's climbing tooth and nail into the popular crowd, and Alex's behavior is devastating her chances of reinventing herself. Thea also knows it's wrong to be crushing on Alex's guy, but it's obvious they've always had a connection. And while Alex is concerned for her sister's health, and wonders why she's actually participating in the charity program their Greenwich school set up for seniors and not blowing it off like everyone else.

But like in any family, there are secrets. Like what happened to Alex at her internship. And the guy she's working with, helping kids with homework in the Bronx. The really really hot guy. And it's all coming to a head as both girls plan an ill-advised party-to-end-all-parties for the same night at their house.

This beautifully written, intriguingly dark, and one hundred percent unputdownable novel is the kind I'm hoping to see shiny stickers on come award season. Adele Griffin has composed another masterpiece. Do yourself a favor, and read it! show less

in a sentence: Lonely Delia moves with her loving parents to a new town, again, and on her desperate search for a friend is picked up by the dramatic Amandine whose friendship goes from weird, to worse.

This novel is slathered with anxiety and the overwhelming feeling of discomfort through and through. Delia is awkward, overweight, and self-conscious. She is noticed by the overly confident, underweight, and bizarre Amandine. Perhaps it's her desperation to find a friend, or that Delia is just show more intrigued by Amandines 'stage presence' that she allows their friendship to continue despite red flags all over the place. The reader feels for Delia and her frustrations. She has great parents, they just lack a little in the compassion and understanding department. No matter how great her life may be at home, her relationship with Amandine is rocky and unhealthy, and a total thrill ride for her and for the reader.

I am still in awe of how Adele Griffin was able to completely capture the angst of Delia in a caring and real way. The young adult reader in me feels for Delia, while the adult reader feels bad for Delia. The line is thin, and is walked very well. Amandine's character is outrageous, but believable in context of a teenage girl with social issues. This was an incredibly quick read, and the fact that it's hard to put down makes it that much quicker. The young adult reader within me was completely absorbed in the subtle drama and tense emotions from all of the characters. The dialogue reflects the angst in Delia, and the reader is always guessing as to what is going to happen, when the turning point is, etc. show less

Lizzy Swift is tired of hiding her epilepsy and trying to look “normal.” As a senior in a private Philadelphia high school in 1989, she meets Claire—a rebellious new student—and slowly lets herself step out of the shadows. But as friendships and romance bloom, so do secrets: Claire’s hidden trauma, Matt’s unexpected emotional distance, and Lizzy’s own fear of being seen. Tell Me No Lies is a candid, richly textured coming-of-age tale set against the backdrop of neon art parties show more and high-stakes teenage vulnerability. Readers will appreciate its emotional honesty, strong voice, and the slow reveal of truths that challenge each character’s notion of self. show less