BOOK NEWS: All Eyes on Us

It’s true! All Eyes on Us is coming June 4, 2019 from S&S/McElderry Books! I want to share a bit with you about Rosalie and Amanda’s story, and if you’re excited to read, three ways you can show your early support are by adding All Eyes on Us to your “to-read” list on Goodreads, requesting from your local library (ISBN13: 9781534404403), and pre-ordering from your favorite retailer.

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ADD TO YOUR TBR ON GOODREADS

ABOUT THE BOOK

Two teens find their paths intertwined when an anonymous texter threatens to spill their secrets and uproot their lives in this taut, tense thriller for fans of Pretty Little Liars, People Like Us, and The Miseducation of Cameron Post.

Someone’s watching …

PRIVATE NUMBER: Wouldn’t you look better without a cheater on your arm?
AMANDA: Who is this?

The daughter of small town social climbers, Amanda Kelly is deeply invested in her boyfriend, real estate heir Carter Shaw. He’s kind, ambitious, the town golden boy—but he’s far from perfect. Because behind Amanda’s back, Carter is also dating Rosalie.

PRIVATE NUMBER: I’m watching you, Sweetheart.
ROSALIE: Who IS this?

Rosalie Bell is fighting to remain true to herself and her girlfriend—while concealing her identity from her Christian fundamentalist parents. After years spent in and out of conversion “therapy,” her own safety is her top priority. But maintaining a fake, straight relationship is killing her from the inside.

When an anonymous texter ropes Amanda and Rosalie into a bid to take Carter down, the girls become collateral damage—and unlikely allies in a fight to unmask their stalker before Private uproots their lives.

PRIVATE NUMBER: You shouldn’t have ignored me. Now look what you made me do …

MORE ABOUT THE BOOK

Here are four reasons I’m excited to share my second YA novel, All Eyes on Us, with all of you:

• ONE: Girls taking charge of their destinies in the face of immense—and immensely unhealthy—pressure from their families and communities: In All Eyes on Us, we meet Amanda Kelly, the daughter of status-hungry small town social climbers, and Rosalie Bell, the oldest daughter of a family in the Fellowship of Christ fundamentalist denomination. The girls’ lives seem quite different at first blush, but both are torn between their true selves and the expectations hanging over them.
• TWO: Dual-POV: the narrative alternates between Amanda and Rosalie as their stories intertwine until they eventually come together to face the stalker who threatens to uproot both their lives.
• THREE: Through Rosalie’s storyline, All Eyes on Us takes on the unscientific, ineffective, and deeply harmful practice variously known as conversion therapy, reparative therapy, ex-gay ministry, sexual reorientation, and Sexual Orientation Change Efforts (SOCE). Lawmakers and advocates at the National Center for Lesbian Rights, the Southern Poverty Law Center, the Human Rights Campaign, and elsewhere are working tirelessly to ban conversion therapy nationwide and internationally, but there is still a long way to go. All Eyes on Us will include a resource section for LGBTQ+ community members, allies, and advocates who want to join the fight to end conversion therapy.
• FOUR: Did I mention All Eyes on Us is a thriller? The novel tackles some very serious topics within the framework of a suspenseful narrative that I hope will keep you turning pages. A few things you can expect: girls kicking serious ass; a stalker with a private number and major grudge against local golden boy Carter Shaw; an on-page, interracial f/f relationship; parents who make massive mistakes; lavish galas and church basements in small town West Virginia; unlikely friendships and hopeful futures.

Content notes: intense flashback scenes depicting abusive conversion “therapy” tactics; homophobia; parental alcoholism; bullying/threats of violence