Not About a Boy

“This debut is a gritty teen drama full of mature themes that unfurl in compassionate ways and will resonate with many readers…Heartbreaking and powerful.” —Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

Euphoria meets Girl in Pieces in this coming-of-age story of a girl trying to put a grief-stricken past behind her, only to be startled by the discovery of a long-lost sister who puts into question everything she thought she knew.

Amélie Cœur has never known what it truly means to be happy.

She thought she’d found happiness once, in a love that ended in tragedy and nearly sent her over the edge. Now, at seventeen, Mel is beginning to piece her life back together. Under the supervision of Laurelle Child Services, the exclusive foster care agency that raised her, Mel is sober and living with a new family among Manhattan’s elite. It’s her last chance at adoption before she ages out of the system, and she promised, this time, she’ll try.

But a casual relationship with a boy is turning into something she never intended for it to be, causing small cracks in her carefully constructed walls. Then the sister she has no memory of contacts Mel, unearthing complicated feelings about the past and what could have been.

As the anniversary of the worst day of her life approaches, Mel must weather the rising tides of grief and depression before she loses herself, and those close to her, all over again.

Praise for Not About a Boy:

“Lucid and luminous.” —ALA Booklist

“Hollis’s powerful and compassionate debut novel is an intimate and nuanced portrayal of a resilient and troubled young woman’s journey toward self-acceptance…An emotionally rich and complex coming-of-age story. Amélie is a well-written character teenagers will understand and will want to root for.” —School Library Journal (starred review)

• Long-Lost Sister: A message from Brie, the identical twin she can’t remember, unearths a past shrouded in secrecy and questions everything Amélie thought she knew about her family.
• Mental Health Representation: An unflinching and compassionate look at a teen’s journey through trauma, depression, and sobriety as she fights to put her life back together.
• Foster Care Fiction: Her last chance at adoption before aging out of the system hangs in the balance as Amélie navigates life with a new family among Manhattan’s elite.
• Found Family: In a world that has consistently let her down, Amélie must decide whether to trust her new foster parents, her friends, and a boy who sees past the walls she’s built.