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9780007145737

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The relationship between Ursula and Matt grows, credibly and compellingly, against a convincing high school backdrop. Readers will relate to the pressures these two experience, both at school and from their parents, and be gratified by their ability to emerge the wiser. Publisher's Weekly Praise for Joyce Carol Oates' writing: Miss Oates is one of our most audaciously talented writers. Her gift is so large, her fluency in different genres -- poems, short stories, novels, essays -- so great, that at times she seems to challenge the ability of readers to keep up with her. Erica Jong One of the greatest writers of our time. John Gardner

A highly regarded writer of adult novels, Joyce Carol Oates has turned her remarkable talents to writing for younger readers. This is an utterly absorbing book about two 16-year-old high school students, and the relationship that develops between them following a police investigation. Matt Donaghy is bright, popular and good-looking but a bit too clever for his own good. When someone overhears a throwaway remark of his in the cafeteria about staging a school massacre, the police are called in and a full-scale enquiry ensues. As a result of his infamous 'big mouth', Matt is ostracized by his peers, under pressure from their families. Matt's parents retaliate by filing their own lawsuit against the school, and Matt becomes increasingly isolated and depressed. But there is one person who believes Matt has been wronged and she is determined to stand up for him. Ursula Riggs, or 'Ugly Girl' as she ironically calls herself, knows what it's like to be an outsider - tall and muscular, she rebels against the cute prettiness of her mother and sister Lisa by hiding behind a veneer of toughness and defiance, not caring what she wears or what she looks like. The two communicate via e-mail - many times they both come close to admitting the true nature of their feelings about each other, but as many messages are deleted as are actually sent. It is not until Ursula catches Matt contemplating suicide that she lets the barriers down, and out of the crisis the two develop a deep and lasting friendship. Ursula is a stirring heroine, a loner who has few friends yet is fiercely loyal, with a burning integrity. The burgeoning relationship between the two teenagers is utterly convincing, although Ursula's character is more fully developed than that of the more anodyne Matt. Teenagers will identify with both, and with the pressures put upon young people to conform. Oates also makes some pertinent comments about the fickle nature of some so-called friendships, and how they can quickly buckle under stress. In this scintillating novel, her finely tuned ear for the minutiae of personal relationships has never been better displayed. Ages 13+ (Kirkus UK)

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Joyce Carol Oates is a recipient of the National Book Critics Circle Lifetime Achievement Award, the National Book Award and the PEN / Malamud Award, and has been nominated for the Pulitzer Prize. Her books include We Were the Mulvaneys, Blonde, Carthage, A Book of American Martyrs and Hazards of Time Travel. She is Professor of Humanities at Princeton University.

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