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Speed of Life
Speed of Life
Speed of Life
Ebook324 pages2 hours

Speed of Life

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

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From award winning author Carol Weston comes an uplifting, heartfelt tale of bravery and strength in the face of loss and grief, perfect for tweens, teens and adults alike.

"I will eagerly place it on my daughter's bookshelf, so that she, like Sofia, can find her own resilience and voice in our painful, joyful, speeding world."—New York Times

Sofia lost her mother eight months ago, and her friends were 100% there for her. Now it's a new year and they're ready for Sofia to move on. But being a motherless daughter is hard to get used to, especially when you're only fourteen.

Problem is, Sofia can't bounce back, can't recharge like a cellphone. She decides to write Dear Kate, an advice columnist for Fifteen Magazine, and is surprised to receive a fast reply. Soon the two are exchanging emails, and Sofia opens up and spills all, including a few worries that are totally embarrassing. Turns out even advice columnists don't have all the answers, and one day Sofia learns a secret that flips her world upside down.

2018 Best Fiction for Young Adults - American Library Association

A 2018 Best Children's Book of the Year - Bank Street College of Education

2017 Best Fiction for Older Readers - Chicago Public Library

2019–2020 Young Hoosier Book Award Longlist

Four STARRED Reviews

Read the first page from Speed of Life:

WARNING: This is kind of a sad story.

At least at first. So if you don't like sad stories, maybe you shouldn't read this. I mean, I'd understand if you put it down and watched cat videos instead. I like cat videos too.

Then again, this book is already in your hands. It starts and ends on January 1, and I was thinking of calling it The Year My Whole Life Changed. Or Life, Death, and Kisses. Or maybe even The Year I Grew Up.

For me, being fourteen was hard. Really hard. Childhood was a piece of cake. Being a kid in New York City and spending summers in Spain, that was all pretty perfect, looking back. But being fourteen was like climbing a mountain in the rain. In flip-flops. I hoped I'd wind up in a different place, but I kept tripping and slipping and falling and wishing it weren't way too late to turn around.

This book does have funny parts. And I learned two giant facts:

  • Number one: everything can change in an instant—for worse, sure, but also for better.
  • Number two: sometimes, if you just keep climbing, you get an amazing view. You see what's behind you and what's ahead of you and—the big surprise—what's inside you.
LanguageEnglish
PublisherSourcebooks
Release dateApr 4, 2017
ISBN9781492631354
Author

Carol Weston

Carol Weston is a writer and speaker. She is the author of For Girls Only, Private and Personal, and Girltalk (Fourth Edition) as well as four Melanie Martin novels for younger readers. She's also the "Dear Carol" advice columnist of Girls' Life. Parenting says "Carol Weston gets girls" and Newsweek calls her a "Teen Dear Abby." Of For Girls Only, USA Today wrote, "There are so many dumb advice books that it's a pleasure to find one that really works." Carol has been a guest on Today, Oprah, The View, and other shows and has spoken at many schools both as an author of novels for elementary school kids as well as an advice giver for middle and high school kids. A Phi Beta Kappa Yale graduate with an M.A. in Spanish, she can give a talk at your school in English or Spanish. She now lives in Manhattan with her husband, daughters, and feisty cat Mike.

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  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Sofia Wolfe is too aware that life can change in an instant. She knows this because her mother died suddenly from natural causes in their family's NYC apartment eight months prior. Fourteen-year-old Sofia's story begins in one January and continues to unfold in her point of view until the next January, making it one full year in her life. She struggles with grief and misses her mother terribly. Her family is now only Sofia and her OB/GYN doctor dad, and he too must overcome sorrow. In an attempt to bounce back and maybe even feel like singing again -- something in which Sofia has a special talent -- she writes to "Dear Kate" after Katherine Baird, an advice columnist for a teen magazine, makes an assembly appearance at Sofia's school. Consequences and complications arise soon after "Dear Kate" sends a reply to Sofia's e-mail. And so, for Sofia, life again turns. This book has both tender and humorous moments. It's fast-paced with an appropriate title and well-structure plot -- every chapter is a month in a year in Sofia's life -- and its teen and adult everyday-type characters serve the story nicely. It's a worthwhile read for young YA teens, yet also works for any reader who likes a story about healing and trying to overcome loss.

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Speed of Life - Carol Weston

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