cover image Now Is Everything

Now Is Everything

Amy Giles. HarperTeen, $17.99 (368p) ISBN 978-0-06-249573-0

Behind the nearly perfect grades and family fortune, 17-year-old Hadley McCauley is hiding a terrible secret. Her father, Miles, demands total respect and complete obedience, and he wakes Hadley up every morning for intense runs and weight-lifting sessions to ensure that she remains in peak condition for lacrosse. Beyond his controlling tendencies, Miles also physically abuses his family. Hadley does everything she can to guide her father’s attention away from her younger sister while keeping the violence a secret, but things take a turn for the worse when she falls for classmate Charlie Simmons and breaks her father’s no-dating rule. Debut novelist Giles movingly explores child abuse and its many insidious forms; she recounts Hadley’s story in chapters that alternate between past and present, giving readers a broad understanding of abuse while weaving in Hadley’s first romantic relationship. It’s a thoughtful and poignant story with a strong narrative arc and well-crafted, realistic characters. A list of resources is included for readers who need help or know others who do. Ages 14–up. Agent: Alexandra Machinist, ICM. (Nov.)