BOOK JACKET BLURB: Phyre knows there is something life-changing about her new drama teacher, Mia, from the moment they meet. As Phyre rehearses for the school play, she comes to realize that the unrequited feelings she has for Mia go deeper than she’s ever experienced. Especially with a teacher. Or a woman.
Cover image of BETWEEN YOU & ME by Marisa Calin
All the while, Phyre’s best friend—addressed throughout the story in the second person, as “you”—stands by, ready to help Phyre make sense of her feelings. But just as Mia doesn’t understand what Phyre feels, Phyre can’t fathom the depth of her best friend’s feelings . . . until it’s almost too late for a happy ending.
Characters come to life through the innovative screenplay format of this dazzling debut, and unanswered questions—is “you” male or female?—will have readers talking.
First novel for Marisa Calin
Published by Bloomsbury USA, 2012, $16.99
256 pages
ISBN 9781599907581
Also published as e-book, $11.99
ISBN 9781599908380
Agent: Brenda Bowen, Sanford J. Greenburger Associates
EMERT’S NOTES:
Calin tries too hard to be clever in this novel, writing it partially as a screenplay with narrative interludes. She occasionally adds actual scenes from the play that the protagonist, Phyre, (again, trying too hard for my tastes), is starring in at her high school. The plot ultimately morphs into a love triangle of sorts between Phyre (“Me”), her long-term sub drama teacher Mia, and Phyre’s best friend (“You”). Because the dialogue that appears in the book is written as lines in a play between two characters, “You” and “Me,” the novel reads something like a letter to an unnamed character. Most annoying (though clearly intentional on the part of the author) is the fact that the reader never knows the gender of “You,” so it’s not especially clear that the characters are both girls.
SELECTED PRESS:
REVIEWS:
Publishers Weekly, June 25, 2012
Kirkus Reviews, June 12, 2012
INTERVIEWS:
Interview with Marisa Calin, conducted by Lauren Kate
July 27, 2012
AUTHOR ON THE WEB
Website: http://www.marisacalin.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/marisacalin
Book trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2lfqFfZjBEc
Headshot of Marisa Calin
Queer Young Adult Literature 