Title: THIS IS HOW IT
ENDS
Genre: YA
contemporary
Word count: 71,000
Query:
The girl in Dr. Blumenthal’s office is broken.
She wasn’t always broken, of course. Just over a year ago
she was a hopeful ninth grade student looking forward to four years of
adventure with her new best friend. But that was Before.
Before her best friend committed suicide. Before she found
the diaries. Before her whole understanding of the past became a confused and
jumbled mess.
Unable to articulate all that has happened, the girl offers
up a leather-bound journal as evidence. The journal contains a series of diary entries
written by two girls, Jessie and Annie. Their words and memories have been
woven together to tell the story of a tumultuous year--a year of betrayals,
boys and bullying.
One of the girls will not survive the year. The other will
become the wounded girl in the doctor’s office. Only the journal will reveal
which girl is which.
First page:
"I understand you've been through a traumatic event.
That you've lost a friend?"
The
doctor clicks her pen and looks up at the girl in front of her. This is her
last appointment of the day. A new patient. She glances down at the notes from
the referring doctor: Recovering from the
suicide of a close friend.
The
girl is raw, all naked pain and wild eyes. She clings to a thick leather book
as though it is a lifeline, her knuckles white with the effort to hold on. When
she speaks, her voice is rusty from disuse.
"I...it's
all...here." The girl squeezes her eyes shut. There is so much to say, but
no words. Within her boils an angry ocean of fear and regret and hot, hot pain,
but none of it makes it to the surface. It eats her alive from the inside.
The
doctor reaches for the book, and the girl's fingers tighten around it
reflexively. She has laid herself bare on these pages. Laid both of them bare.
To surrender it now feels like a betrayal.
The
moment stretches between them. The doctor takes in the girl's hunched body and
wills herself to slow down. "I want to help you.”
The
words are scary to the girl. They hold the promise of hope. She is no longer
sure she believes in hope. Or that she is deserving of help.
15 comments:
Wow. This sounds like a very intense and emotional ride. I seriously want to keep reading. Right now. This is fabulous! Awesome job!
Very intense! I love the mystery of it! Good luck :)
You pull a great deal of emotion out of this query and first 250. Very well done! Great, intense writing and a unique take on POV that we don't see much at all. This holds the promise of a very intense read! Good luck!
Wow! I love the idea that the girl's identity is part of the mystery. I'd definitely want to read to find out. Good luck!
Your opening 250 are KILLER!! The voice and the emotion is so strong, I'm immediately invested in the character.
Great job! GOOD LUCK!
Whew. This is intense. I've had those kind of friendships and it guts me to even think about that kind of pain. Great job making that real.
I seriously want to read this right now. Your query is brilliant, and there's such powerful emotion in your opening. This looks like it's going to be incredible. Good luck in the agent round, and go Team Krista!
I love the emotion in this - it's so powerful in the query and continues in the first 250. I don't read much contemporary, but this made me want to snatch it off the bookshelf and keep reading. It's mesmerizing. LOVE, LOVE, LOVE!
I loved this one from the beginning! Can't wait to see the requests pour in! Good luck :)
I love this concept, and your first page totally pulls me in. I can tell readers will be in for an emotional — but awesome — ride.
Sounds so intense! You can really feel the girl's anguish, and I love that it's a mystery. Good luck!
The query and first 250 are both excellent. So compelling. Well done!
I'm intrigued! Happy to request this.
-Mollie
I'd love to see more!
Would love to read more of this!
Monika
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