Hey everyone, we’re going to take a break from this site’s regularly scheduled programming of stuff I’ve written, pictures I’ve taken, and other Rick-centric content in order to give a shout-out to something that is quite excellent and only marginally connected to, well… me.
My friend Kat Rosenfield‘s debut novel Amelia Anne is Dead and Gone hit shelves this week, and as someone who’s known her since this project was in its infancy, I feel obligated — and tremendously excited — to put it on your radar. Not only is it a great story, but Kat is a writer I knew was headed for big things from the very first moment I read her work.
Here’s the cover of Amelia Anne is Dead and Gone, which is out now:
And here’s the official synopsis of the book:
An arresting un-coming-of-age story, from a breathtaking talent
Becca has always longed to break free from her small, backwater hometown. But the discovery of an unidentified dead girl on the side of a dirt road sends the town—and Becca—into a tailspin. Unable to make sense of the violence of the outside world creeping into her backyard, Becca finds herself retreating inward, paralyzed from moving forward for the first time in her life.
Short chapters detailing the last days of Amelia Anne Richardson’s life are intercut with Becca’s own summer as the parallel stories of two young women struggling with self-identity and relationships on the edge twist the reader closer and closer to the truth about Amelia’s death.
Don’t let the “Teen Fiction” classification scare you away, folks. Kat’s writing is a joy to read no matter what your age is or usual tastes in genre. Good storytelling is good storytelling.
Of course, I mentioned earlier that this plug had a marginally self-serving angle, so here’s another thing that makes Amelia Anne is Dead and Gone pretty darn great — though I’m probably the only person who sees this as an added bonus:
Yes, Kat’s been encouraging me to write a novel just as long as I’ve been telling her to do the same. And you know what? I’m totally okay with her making it happen first — especially when the result is a book like Amelia Anne is Dead and Gone.
Now back to your regularly scheduled geekery… Did I mention I’ll be on television tonight?
