Author: Cori McCarthy
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Genre: YA, Contemporary
Release Date: 1st March 2016
BLURB supplied by Sourcebooks Fire
Jaycee is about to accomplish what her older brother Jake
couldn’t: live past graduation.
Jaycee is dealing with her brother’s
death the only way she can – by re-creating Jake’s daredevil stunts. The ones
that got him killed. She’s not crazy, okay? She just doesn’t have a whole lot
of respect for staying alive.
Jaycee doesn’t expect to have help on
her insane quest to remember Jake. But she’s joined by a group of unlikely
friends – all with their own reasons for completing the dares and their own
brand of dysfunction: the uptight, ex-best friend, the heartbroken poet, the
slacker with Peter Pan syndrome, and… Mik. He doesn’t talk, but somehow still
challenges Jayce to do the unthinkable—reveal the parts of herself that she
buried with her brother.
PURCHASE LINKS
EXCERPT
“What
do I see?” I asked, turning back to the halo effect created by Margaret’s
splayed hair. “It was a game. She died because she was playing a game.”
“Just
like Jake,” Natalie said.
“Right,”
I quipped, trying to mask not only my annoyance at Natalie’s psychoanalyst tone
but also a flare of grief. My chest grew tight. Why wouldn’t it go away? Why
did all this still buckle me to the ground? Tears burned my eyes, and I took my
hair out of my ponytail. This never happened when I came here with Mik. Mik
didn’t talk or prod. Mik let me be while we walked around Jake’s old haunt,
wondering if he was actually haunting it.
“My
dad said that OU will raze the TB ward.” Bishop pointed out the window toward
the building on the very top of the hill, by far the spookiest and most unkempt
in The Ridges compound. “It’s the only fully abandoned building.”
“Raze?”
I asked, suddenly angry. “When?”
“End
of the summer, I think. My dad said it was going to cost a ton but that leaving
the old building there while it was falling in is just asking for lawsuits.”
“Jake
loved the TB ward,” I said. “They haven’t stripped it down like this building.”
“TB?”
Zach asked.
“Tuberculosis,”
Natalie said.
Bishop
squinted at his friend. “TB has been one of the leading terminal diseases in
society since the dawn of civilization, Zach.”
“But
it doesn’t exist anymore,” Zach said. “Like leprosy.”
“It
totally exists,” Natalie said. “And so does leprosy. Where do you learn these
things?”
“TB
is still the leading cause of death for all people with HIV,” Bishop said. “But
don’t worry, Zach. You won’t get it.”
I
was surprised to find Zach looking at me. “What kind of things are in there?”
I
shrugged. “I’ve never been, but I know it’s more dangerous. All the windows and
doors are boarded up to keep drunk undergrads out.”
“So
there’s no way in?” Bishop asked.
I
shook my head. “Didn’t say that. Every building in The Ridges compound is
connected by basement tunnels. If we get into the basement, we can get into any
building.”
We
all shuffled to our feet and stood around the last portrait of Margaret
Schilling.
“I’m
in,” Bishop said, and I nodded. Bishop was cool; we’d been partners for two
semesters straight in woodshop. He said odd, grandiose things sometimes, but I
liked him for it. Plus there was a pretty good chance that Mik would show
himself with only Bishop around.
“I’ll
take you two to the exit,” I told Natalie and Zach.
“Well,
hey,” Zach said. “What if I want to come?”
Natalie
looked at him, stunned. “You want to go? What about Kolenski’s three kegs?”
“Kolenski
gets kegs every couple of weeks.” Zach shoved his hands in his pockets. He had
sobered up since they’d entered The Ridges, and now he just looked worn down.
Even his hair had flattened. I’d written him off years ago, but the way he’d
helped me find Jake’s footprint and waylaid Natalie…maybe he wasn’t such a
garden-variety “dude.”
“Who
else can say that they did this the night after graduation?” he added with a
shrug.
“So Natalie’s the loose end?” I said. “Big surprise.”
“Wait a second. It was my idea to follow you in the first place.
And I…I want to see it.”
“Really?” Zach asked her. “Even if it’s dangerous?”
“I’m going to minor in history. It’ll be like walking around
inside of history.”
I knew Natalie well enough to know that she was deluding herself,
but when I opened my mouth to point it out, I saw something instead. Bishop did
too.
“Apple.” He pointed to the ground. “Guys. There’s an apple.”
A shiny, green Granny Smith apple sat in the doorway. I picked it
up.
“Where the hell did that come from?” Zach asked, fear trilling his
voice. “Is someone else here? That wasn’t there a few minutes ago, right?
Right?”
They all looked up and down the hall. Nothing.
“Maybe Jake’s ghost put it there. Or Margaret’s,” I said. A thump
of what could only be described as happiness resounded through my chest. It was
foreign and weird, and yet welcome.
“You’re smiling,” Natalie said. “Why are you smiling? You never
smile.”
I rubbed the apple on my shirt and took a huge crunching bite.
Natalie looked like she was going to pass out. I winked. “This way to the
basement.”
GRAPHIC EXCERPT
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Cori McCarthy studied poetry and screenwriting before falling in love with writing for teens at Vermont College of Fine Arts. From a military family, Cori was born on Guam and lived a little bit of everywhere before she landed in Michigan.
Learn more about her books at CoriMcCarthy.com
AUTHOR LINKS
PRAISE FOR THE BOOK
“The mix of forms as well as the insights each character
gleans through their urban explorations render this book both readable and
teachable on multiple levels.” –Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books,
STARRED Review
“Readers who appreciate stories of
searching for personal truths will be happy to join this meaningful quest for
identity and independence.” –Booklist
“You Were Here is wrenchingly beautiful in its
honest and achingly accurate portrayal of grief and how it breaks us--and the
way unconditional friendship puts us back together.” -Jo Knowles, award-winning author of See You At Harry’s and Read Between the Lines
“Through razor-sharp wit,
no-holds-barred momentum, and heart-wrenching twists, Cori McCarthy dares you
to climb through the broken, abandoned wreckage of the past, stand on the edge
of the world, and face something even scarier: the truth.” -K.A. Barson, author of 45
Pounds (More or Less and Charlotte Cuts it Out
"The urban explorers of You
Were Here dive deep into the forgotten man-made spaces
all around them--and their own feelings of loss, love, and fear. McCarthy
deftly intertwines the characters' stories, filling them with authentic pain
and heartache as well as soaring moments of grace and humor. I dare you to read it!" --Maggie Lehrman, author of The Cost of All Things
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