Belzhar - by Meg Wolitzer (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

ONE OF TIME AND NPR'S TEN BEST YA BOOKS OF THE YEAR - From the New York Times bestselling author of The Female Persuasion comes a "smart and engrossing" (School Library Journal) story of a young girl who finds solace after the tragic loss of her boyfriend at a boarding school in Vermont.

"Expect depth and razor sharp wit in this [young adult] novel from the author of The Interestings."--Entertainment Weekly

"A prep school tale with a supernatural-romance touch."--Glamour

There's a place where the lost go to be found.

If life were fair, Jam Gallahue would still be at home in New Jersey with her sweet British boyfriend, Reeve Maxfield. She'd be watching old comedy sketches with him. She'd be kissing him in the library stacks.

She certainly wouldn't be at The Wooden Barn, a therapeutic boarding school in rural Vermont, signed up for an exclusive, supposedly life-changing class called Special Topics in English that focuses--only and entirely--on the works of Sylvia Plath.

But life isn't fair. Reeve has been gone for almost a year, and Jam is still mourning.

When a journal-writing assignment leads Jam into a mysterious other-world she and her classmates call Belzhar, she discovers a realm where the untainted past is restored, and she can feel Reeve's arms around her once again. But, as the pages of her journal begin to fill up, Jam must confront hidden truths and ultimately decide what she's willing to sacrifice to reclaim her loss.

Review Quotes

"It's been a long while since a book has pulled me in this way; I read it leaning forward, figuratively on the edge of my seat with my heart in my throat. I had no idea what was coming, but I was hungry to get there. So subtly plotted and painfully beautiful, I couldn't put it down. Meg Wolitzer is a an amazing storyteller."--Jacqueline Woodson, winner of the National Book Award for Brown Girl Dreaming

"Wolitzer has imagined a world for young readers that celebrates the sacred, transcendent power of reading and writing."--The New York Times Book Review

"Expect depth and razor sharp wit in this YA novel from the author of The Interestings."--Entertainment Weekly

"A prep school tale with a supernatural-romance touch, from genius adult novelist Meg Wolitzer."--Glamour

"Basically everything Meg Wolitzer writes is worth reading, usually over and over again, and her YA debut . . . is no exception."--Teen Vogue

"Demonstrates the power of words to heal."--The Washington Post

"A riveting exploration of the human psyche . . . Wolitzer's teenage characters are invigorated, flawed, emotionally real and intensely interesting. Even as readers fold back the layers of the story and discover unexpected truths and tragedies, the plot maintains an integrity that has come to be hallmark of Wolitzer's novels."--Kirkus Reviews, starred review

"A smart and engrossing tale of trauma, trust, and triumph."--School Library Journal, starred review

"A strong, original book."--Publishers Weekly, starred review

"Wolitzer handles Jam's increasingly complex psychological state with delicate, nonjudgmental nuance . . . teen readers, especially rabid Plath fans, will relish Wolitzer's deeply respectful treatment of Jam's realistic emotional struggle."--Booklist

"Enlivened by humor, memorable characters and a page-turning mystery only revealed in its final pages, Belzhar explores the role of trauma in young lives."--BookPage

"But Jam herself is a fantastic portrait of a girl somehow younger than her own age, unable to cope with the hardships of being a teenager, and the final twist of the novel reveals an unexpected aspect to her character that makes her all the more heartbreaking."--The Daily Beast

About the Author

Meg Wolitzer's novels include The Interestings; The Uncoupling; The Ten-Year Nap; The Position; and The Wife. Wolitzer's short fiction has appeared in The Best American Short Stories and The Pushcart Prize. About The Interestings, the New York Times Book Review said, "Remarkable . . . [The Interestings's] inclusive vision and generous sweep place it among the ranks of books like Jonathan Franzen's Freedom and Jeffrey Eugenides' The Marriage Plot. The Interestings is warm, all-American, and acutely perceptive about the feelings and motivations of its characters, male and female, young and old, gay and straight; but it's also stealthily, unassumingly, and undeniably a novel of ideas. . . . With this book [Wolitzer] has surpassed herself."