Girl Against the Universe

Paula Stokes

- 4.8 • 16 Ratings

- $9.99

- $9.99

From the author of The Art of Lainey and Liars, Inc. comes a fresh, contemporary story about one girl’s tragic past and a boy who convinces her that maybe her luck is about to change. Perfect for fans of Sarah Dessen or Jenny Han.

Maguire knows she’s bad luck. No matter how many charms she buys off the internet or good luck rituals she performs each morning, horrible things happen when Maguire is around. Like that time her brother, father, and uncle were all killed in a car crash—and Maguire walked away with barely a scratch. But then on her way out of her therapist’s office, she meets Jordy, an aspiring tennis star, who wants to help Maguire break her unlucky streak. Maguire knows that the best thing she can do for Jordy is to stay away, but staying away may be harder than she thought.

PUBLISHERS WEEKLY MAR 14, 2016

In a romance built around tennis and psychotherapy, Stokes (Liars, Inc.) introduces high school junior Maguire Kelly, who believes that she causes terrible things to happen to everyone around her, and has isolated herself following a series of tragedies. Maguire's attitude softens, slightly, after she meets a young tennis star, Jordy, in the lobby of their therapist's office. With help from her therapist, Maguire assembles a list of goals for regaining a social life (including making the tennis team) and a road map for overcoming the debilitating belief that she is cursed. The bad luck that continues to follow her (a tennis mishap with Jordy, an unfortunate fall by his sister, etc.) can feel like interruptions to this otherwise engaging story. Though Maguire's struggle with her perceived bad luck is meant to be the plot's key hook, its true appeal lies with Stokes's well-developed characters Maguire's caring family, her new best friend, her insightful therapist and in the way Maguire and Jordy support each other's efforts to conquer the challenges they face. Ages 13 up.

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