We Are Okay - by Nina Lacour (Paperback)

About the Book

Winner of the 2018 Michael L. Printz Award--an achingly beautiful novel aboutgrief and the enduring power of friendship.

Book Synopsis

NATIONAL BESTSELLER - An achingly beautiful novel about grief, the enduring power of friendship, and the healing effects of kindness, from the award-winning author of Hold Still

WINNER OF THE MICHAEL L. PRINTZ AWARD - ONE OF TIME'S BEST YOUNG ADULT BOOKS OF ALL TIME - KIRKUS REVIEWS BEST YOUNG ADULT BOOK OF THE CENTURY

"Short, poetic and gorgeously written . . . The world LaCour creates is fragile but profoundly humane." --The New York Times Book Review

You go through life thinking there's so much you need. . . . Until you leave with only your phone, your wallet, and a picture of your mother.

Marin hasn't spoken to anyone from her old life since the day she left everything behind. No one knows the truth about those final weeks--not even her best friend, Mabel. But even thousands of miles away from the California coast, at college in New York, Marin still feels the pull of the life and tragedy she's tried to outrun. Now, months later, alone in an emptied dorm for winter break, Marin waits. Mabel is coming to visit, and Marin will be forced to face everything that's been left unsaid and finally confront the loneliness that has made a home in her heart.

An intimate whisper that packs an indelible punch, We Are Okay is Nina LaCour at her finest. This gorgeously crafted and honest portrayal of grief will leave readers urgent to reach across any distance to reconnect with the people they love.

Praise for We Are Okay

"Nina LaCour treats her emotions so beautifully and with such empathy." --Bustle

★ "Exquisite." --Kirkus

★ "LaCour paints a captivating depiction of loss, bewilderment, and emotional paralysis . . . raw and beautiful." --Booklist

★ "Beautifully crafted . . . . A quietly moving, potent novel." --SLJ

★ "A moving portrait of a girl struggling to rebound after everything she's known has been thrown into disarray." --Publishers Weekly

★"Bittersweet and hopeful . . . poetic and skillfully crafted." --Shelf Awareness

"So lonely and beautiful that I could hardly breathe. This is a perfect book." --Stephanie Perkins, bestselling author of Anna and the French Kiss

"As beautiful as the best memories, as sad as the best songs, as hopeful as your best dreams."
--Siobhan Vivian, bestselling author of The Last Boy and Girl in the World

"You can feel every peak and valley of Marin's emotional journey on your skin, in your gut. Beautifully written, heartfelt, and deeply real." --Adi Alsaid, author of Never Always Sometimes and Let's Get Lost

Review Quotes

Praise for We Are Okay
One of TIME MAGAZINE's 100 Best YA Books of All Time

"A brief but powerfully affecting meditation on loneliness and grief." --TIME

"A meditation on surviving grief, We Are Okay is short, poetic and gorgeously written.... The power in this little book is in seeing Marin come out on the other side of loss, able to appreciate a beautiful yellow-glazed pottery bowl and other people's kindnesses, and to understand that she might one day have a girlfriend and a future. The world LaCour creates is fragile but profoundly humane." --The New York Times Book Review

"A beautiful, devastating piece of art. . . .The title hints at a happy ending, but the journey toward it passes through some of the darkest corners of the heart. Be prepared to be gutted--and grateful. We Are Okay is an extraordinary work by an author who keeps redefining and elevating her genre." --Bookpage

"Nina LaCour treats her emotions so beautifully and with such empathy. Of course, we'd expect nothing less from the stunning LaCour." --Bustle

★ "Exquisite." --Kirkus, starred review

★ "LaCour paints a captivating depiction of loss, bewilderment, and emotional paralysis . . . raw and beautiful." --Booklist, starred review

★ "Beautifully crafted . . . . A quietly moving, potent novel." --School Library Journal, starred review

★ "A moving portrait of a girl struggling to rebound after everything she's known has been thrown into disarray." --Publishers Weekly, starred review

★"Bittersweet and hopeful . . . poetic and skillfully crafted." --Shelf Awareness, starred review

"So lonely and beautiful that I could hardly breathe. This is a perfect book." --Stephanie Perkins, bestselling author of Anna and the French Kiss

"As beautiful as the best memories, as sad as the best songs, as hopeful as your best dreams."
--Siobhan Vivian, bestselling author of The Last Boy and Girl in the World

"You can feel every peak and valley of Marin's emotional journey on your skin, in your gut. Beautifully written, heartfelt, and deeply real." --Adi Alsaid, author of Never Always Sometimes and Let's Get Lost

MORE PRAISE FOR NINA LACOUR

Hold Still:
YALSA Best Books for Young Adults (2010); 2010 William C. Morris Honor Book

★ "LaCour makes an impressive debut with an emotionally charged young adult novel about friendship and loss." -- Publishers Weekly

"LaCour strikes a new path through a familiar story, leading readers with her confident writing and savvy sense of prose." -- Kirkus

"The book is written with honesty, revealing one's pain after the loss of a loved one." -- SLJ

The Disenchantments
YALSA Best Books for Young Adults (2013); Kirkus Best Teen Book of 2012; A Publishers Weekly Best Summer Book

★ "This is about the inside and outside of characters, the past and future of their lives--and it is astonishing." --Booklist

"Quietly compelling . . . well rendered, bittersweet and hopeful." --Los Angeles Times

★ "A rich tapestry that will make readers confident that they are in the hands of a master storyteller. . . . . Hauntingly beautiful." --Kirkus

★ "LaCour skillfully draws connections between art and life as she delves into the heart of her characters." --Publishers Weekly

★"Bittersweet and hopeful . . . poetic and skillfully crafted." --Shelf Awareness

★ "LaCour's writing style is laid-back, low key, and totally on point." --VOYA

Everything Leads to You
★ "Underneath the privilege surges real pain, longing, and feeling in a way that makes it easy to imagine this novel as a film." -- Publishers Weekly

About the Author

Nina LaCour is the author of the widely acclaimed Hold Still, The Disenchantments, and Everything Leads to You. She is also the coauthor, with David Levithan of You Know Me Well. Formerly a bookseller and high school English teacher, she now writes and parents full time. A San Francisco Bay Area native, Nina lives with her family in Martinez, California. www.ninalacour.com