Off the Record
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- £7.99
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- £7.99
Publisher Description
What would you sacrifice to expose the truth?
From Camryn Garrett, whose debut Full Disclosure was called "honest, eye-opening and heartful" by Angie Thomas, comes a ripped-from-the-headlines story of a teen journalist who stumbles across the #metoo story of the decade and has to weigh the risks against the need to fight for justice.
When seventeen-year-old Josie Wright wins a contest to write a celebrity profile for Deep Focus magazine, she's equal parts excited and scared. Soon she is jetting off on a multi-city tour, rubbing elbows with sparkly celebrities, frenetic handlers, stone-faced producers, and eccentric stylists. She even finds herself catching feelings for the subject of her profile, dazzling young newcomer Marius Canet.
Josie's world is expanding so rapidly, she doesn't know whether she's flying or falling. But when a young actress lets her in on a terrible secret, and then the secrets keep coming, she realizes she's in over her head. She wants to do the right thing, but is this her story to tell? What if she lets down the women who have entrusted her with their stories? What if this ends her writing career before it even begins? There are so many reasons not to go ahead . . . but if Josie doesn't step up, who will?
This is a moving testament to the #MeToo movement, and all the ways women stand up for each other.
"Brave, necessary, and unflinchingly real, Off the Record is an instant classic." --Marieke Nijkamp, #1 New York Times Bestselling author of This Is Where It Ends
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Garrett (Full Disclosure) interrogates body image, familial tension, power dynamics, and sexual assault in this contemporary feminist novel about aspiring journalist Josie, a Black 17-year-old from Atlanta. Struggling with her family's commentary on her body and resigning herself to wait until college to find friends, Josie's delighted when a magazine contest offers her a chance to travel on a multicity press tour and write a cover story on Marius, the Black star of an upcoming film, whom she soon finds herself falling for. When an actor reveals she was sexually assaulted by a famous director—the same director Marius will be working with in his next film—Josie digs deeper into the rumors while coping with her own past sexual assault. Josie is a talented, self-conscious teen who clearly critiques the way women are treated in the world around her. Expositional plot points gleaned through Josie's interviews can drag at times, but a side story offers a sweet romance, and Josie's largely internal journey remains a clear portrait of a young woman finding her voice while coming into her own. Ages 14–up.