Miles from Ordinary: A Novel

Miles from Ordinary: A Novel

"Imagine Anna Quindlen or Sue Miller turning her attention to writing a young adult novel, and you have an idea what [Williams] has done for early teen readers…" --Audrey Couloumbis, author of the Newbery Honor Book Getting Close to Baby Thirteen-year-old Lacey wakes to a beautiful summer morning excited to begin her new job at the library, just as her mother is supposed to start work at the grocery store. Lacey hopes that her mother's ghosts have finally been laid to rest; after all, she seems so much better these days, and they really do need the money. But as the hours tick by and memories come flooding back, a day full of hope spins terrifyingly out of control.... "No one can get inside the head and heart of a 13-year-old girl better than Carol Lynch Williams, and I mean no one," said James S. Jacobs, Professor of Children's Literature at Brigham Young University, of her breakout novel, The Chosen One. Now this award-winning YA author brings us an equally gripping story of a girl who loves her mother, but must face the truth of what life with that mother means for both of them. Thirteen-year-old Lacey hopes that this summer day will be a new start. She has gotten her mother a job at Winn-Dixie because they desperately need the money, and Lacey will be following in her aunt Linda�s footsteps by working at the public library. Lacey craves an opportunity to be �normal,� to flirt with her neighbor Aaron and not have to watch over Momma, who seems so much better these days. But the day quickly spins out of control when Momma disappears. Seeing things afresh through Aaron�s eyes as they search for her together, Lacey comes to realize that it�s impossible for her to help her mother on her own. This gripping story by the author of The Chosen One (2009) is as suspenseful as it is painful. Lacey�s love for her mother, mixed with resentment and frustration over Momma�s mental illness, is thoroughly believable (if a little sophisticated). Provocatively dark and at times downright scary, this novel will have readers rushing to the unforeseen, achingly authentic conclusion. Grades 6-9. --Melissa Moore “Absorbing....[Williams] has crafted both a riveting, unusual suspense tale and an absolutely convincing character in Lacey. The book truly is miles from ordinary, in the very best way. Outstanding.” ― Kirkus Reviews (starred review) “In a novel spanning a mere 24 hours, Williams takes readers on an emotional roller-coaster ride....Poignant.” ― Publishers Weekly “Gripping....Provocatively dark and at times downright scary, this novel will have readers rushing to the unforeseen, achingly authentic conclusion.” ― Booklist “A powerful and heartbreaking novel of love and hope.” ―Meg Cabot, New York Times bestselling author of The Princess Diaries and Airhead, on The Chosen One “Fiction can offer emotional truth where other tools fail.... Williams unveils life among the Chosen with spare, evocative writing and an honest sense of character that helps bridge the rift between Kyra's world and ours.... The cinematic drama of her life...is a means to reach a quieter truth, revealing that moment in childhood when you recognize your thoughts as your own and discover forces in the world that your parents cannot--or will not--protect you from.” ― The New York Times Book Review (Editor's Choice) on The Chosen One “Intensely gripping and grippingly intense.” ― Kirkus Reviews on The Chosen One “Extraordinary.... The Chosen One is brave, its plumb is true, it's a masterpiece.” ―Kathi Appelt, author of the National Book Award finalist The Underneath, on The Chosen One “Makes the heart race, the teeth grind, and the brow bead up in sweat.” ―Gregory Maguire, New York Times bestselling author of Wicked and A Lion Among Men, on The Chosen One Carol Lynch Williams is the author of young adult novels including The Chosen One , which was named one of 2010 ALA's "Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Adult Readers" and "Best Books for Young Adult Readers." It also won the Whitney and the Association of Mormon Letters awards for the best young adult fiction of the year, as well as numerous other honors. Williams was the winner of the 2009 PEN/Phyllis Naylor Working Writer Fellowship. She grew up in Florida and now lives in Utah. Miles from Ordinary A Novel By Carol Lynch Williams St. Martin's Griffin Copyright © 2011 Carol Lynch Williams All right reserved. ISBN: 9780312555122 I   There are mice. Lots of mice. Running all over my room. Letting out crying sounds that grate on my ears. They crawl on my feet. My legs. I feel them on my arms. Soft things with toenails like blunt needles. “Momma?” I say. She’s dressed in a long nightgown. Her fingernails are sharp like the tops of just-opened cans. “We gotta get rid of the mice. We gotta call an exterminator.” I hand her an old-fashioned phone. “You’re right, Lacey,” Momma says. But instead, she cuts at her face with her nails. Deep wounds open up, split wide, and blood,