Speed of Life

"I will eagerly place it on my daughter's bookshelf, so that she, like Sofia, can find her own resilience and voice in our painful, joyful, speeding world."—New York Times

Sofia lost her mother eight months ago, and her friends were 100% there for her. Now it's a new year and they're ready for Sofia to move on. But being a motherless daughter is hard to get used to, especially when you're only fourteen.

Problem is, Sofia can't bounce back, can't recharge like a cellphone. She decides to write Dear Kate, an advice columnist for Fifteen Magazine, and is surprised to receive a fast reply. Soon the two are exchanging emails, and Sofia opens up and spills all, including a few worries that are totally embarrassing. Turns out even advice columnists don't have all the answers, and one day Sofia learns a secret that flips her world upside down.

2018 Best Fiction for Young Adults - American Library Association

A 2018 Best Children's Book of the Year - Bank Street College of Education

2017 Best Fiction for Older Readers - Chicago Public Library

2019–2020 Young Hoosier Book Award Longlist

Four STARRED Reviews

Read the first page from Speed of Life:

WARNING: This is kind of a sad story.

At least at first. So if you don't like sad stories, maybe you shouldn't read this. I mean, I'd understand if you put it down and watched cat videos instead. I like cat videos too.

Then again, this book is already in your hands. It starts and ends on January 1, and I was thinking of calling it The Year My Whole Life Changed. Or Life, Death, and Kisses. Or maybe even The Year I Grew Up.

For me, being fourteen was hard. Really hard. Childhood was a piece of cake. Being a kid in New York City and spending summers in Spain, that was all pretty perfect, looking back. But being fourteen was like climbing a mountain in the rain. In flip-flops. I hoped I'd wind up in a different place, but I kept tripping and slipping and falling and wishing it weren't way too late to turn around.

This book does have funny parts. And I learned two giant facts:

• Number one: everything can change in an instant—for worse, sure, but also for better.
• Number two: sometimes, if you just keep climbing, you get an amazing view. You see what's behind you and what's ahead of you and—the big surprise—what's inside you.