Vera is many things, 18, high school senior and pizza delivery technician. She is not in love with her former best friend Charlie, who she hates, and who is now dead. No, she is completely in love with him, and she is the only one who knows what really happened the night he died.
Vera is worried about repeating history. Her mother got pregnant in high school, married the loser boy next door, and left them for a podiatrist. Sure, Vera's dad has made a complete turnaround, however he is very strict with Vera. Charlie was her next door neighbor and best friend. She didn't want to become her mother, or even worse for Charlie to become like his abusive father. Charlie's death is just something she will have to deal with. Of course, Charlie haunting her, her numbing the pain with alcohol and working forty hours a week while going to school might just get in the way.
Filled with scenes from the past, the present and chapters told from Charlie's, her dad's and the Pagoda's point of view, Please Ignore Vera Dietz is part mystery, part love story, and part just a girl trying to deal with the life she has. Vera's relationship with Charlie is sweet, at first, and then takes the turn into the scary, until they drift apart. Charlie's new friends, including the evil Jenny Flick, and his smoking, drug use keep Vera away. Vera's relationship with her father is not easy either, and the two of them don't always see eye to eye, even if they both care for each other a lot.
Please Ignore Vera Dietz is a fast read, and you will be turning the pages to find out what happened to Charlie, see the events from the past that made Vera and Charlie friends, and tore them apart. Bonus points for her dad's decision charts after his chapters, as well as observations from a historic building and some great vocabulary words.
Fans of Bruiser by Shusterman, Going Bovine by Libba Bray, and other realistic with a twist enjoy A.S. King's novel.
I'll see you @ the library!
Katie (Jenny Flick and the Detentionheads is now my favorite name for a band, read the book to see what I'm talking about!)
Vera is worried about repeating history. Her mother got pregnant in high school, married the loser boy next door, and left them for a podiatrist. Sure, Vera's dad has made a complete turnaround, however he is very strict with Vera. Charlie was her next door neighbor and best friend. She didn't want to become her mother, or even worse for Charlie to become like his abusive father. Charlie's death is just something she will have to deal with. Of course, Charlie haunting her, her numbing the pain with alcohol and working forty hours a week while going to school might just get in the way.
Filled with scenes from the past, the present and chapters told from Charlie's, her dad's and the Pagoda's point of view, Please Ignore Vera Dietz is part mystery, part love story, and part just a girl trying to deal with the life she has. Vera's relationship with Charlie is sweet, at first, and then takes the turn into the scary, until they drift apart. Charlie's new friends, including the evil Jenny Flick, and his smoking, drug use keep Vera away. Vera's relationship with her father is not easy either, and the two of them don't always see eye to eye, even if they both care for each other a lot.
Please Ignore Vera Dietz is a fast read, and you will be turning the pages to find out what happened to Charlie, see the events from the past that made Vera and Charlie friends, and tore them apart. Bonus points for her dad's decision charts after his chapters, as well as observations from a historic building and some great vocabulary words.
Fans of Bruiser by Shusterman, Going Bovine by Libba Bray, and other realistic with a twist enjoy A.S. King's novel.
I'll see you @ the library!
Katie (Jenny Flick and the Detentionheads is now my favorite name for a band, read the book to see what I'm talking about!)
.