SYNOPSIS:

Chess, the narrator, is sick, but with what exactly, she isn’t sure. And to make matters worse, she must share a hospital room with Shannon, her polar opposite. Where Chess is polite, Shannon is rude. Where Chess tolerates pain silently, Shannon screams bloody murder. Where Chess seems to be getting slowly better, Shannon seems to be getting worse. How these teenagers become friends, helping each other come to terms with their illness, makes for a dramatic and deeply moving read.

WHY SHOULD YOU CHECK IT OUT?

For fans of novels in verse, especially those who love hard-hitting contemporary YAs like those by Ellen Hopkins, need to know about this book!  We love that this novel is about two girls and not a romance, too.  Chess and Shannon sound like a great odd couple friendship.

Like a painful tattoo, the title and author name are etched down Chess’ spine on this straight-forward cover.  We know right away that this tale will take place in a hospital and that the protagonist is ill.  Right to the point!

Author Lucy Frank has written more than half a dozen other contemporary YA novels, like LUCKY STARS and THE HOMESCHOOL LIBERATION FRONT. 

EARLY REVIEWS SAY…

Frank’s portrayal of chronic, mostly invisible sickness is spot-on. Illness isn’t metaphor, it isn’t a consequence, it isn’t a literary vehicle—it’s a precarious and uprooting fact of life, inconvenient and enraging, but not the end of the world.  Riveting, humanizing and real. (Kirkus Reviews)

[T]he girls’ anger and palpable fear (“How do you know who you are when you can’t trust your own body?”) contribute to a raw, unsentimental perspective on the fight to keep an illness from overpowering one’s identity. (Publishers Weekly)

NECESSARY DETAILS

YA Contemporary

Hardcover & ebook,272 pages

Published on August 5th, 2014 by Schwartz & Wade (ISBN 030797941)

http://www.randomhouse.com/book/220166/two-girls-staring-at-the-ceiling-by-lucy-frank