500 Words or Less

by Juleah del Rosario

Genres: YA Family

Synopsis

A YALSA 2020 Quick Pick for Reluctant Young Adult Readers “Compelling.” — School Library Journal “Moving.” — Publishers Weekly “Poignant.” — Kirkus Reviews A high school senior attempts to salvage her reputation among her Ivy League–obsessed classmates by writing their college admissions essays and in the process learns big truths about herself in this mesmerizing debut novel-in-verse, perfect for fans of Gayle Forman and Elizabeth Acevedo. Nic Chen refuses to spend her senior year branded as the girl who cheated on her charismatic and lovable boyfriend. To redefine her reputation among her Ivy League–obsessed classmates, Nic begins writing their college admissions essays. But the more essays Nic writes for other people, the less sure she becomes of herself, the kind of person she is, and whether her moral compass even points north anymore. Provocative, brilliant, and achingly honest, 500 Words or Less explores the heartbreak and hope that marks the search for your truest self.

Release date: September 25, 2018

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers

Print pages: 384

Sample

500 Words or Less

This was senior year

Someone had written WHORE

in bright orange lipstick

on my locker.

It was waiting for me

after third period,

like an old friend

hanging

around after class.

For the past three weeks,

I have filed down these halls,

opened this locker,

stuffed textbooks

and slightly damp rain jackets inside.

I’ve regurgitated facts,

aced exams,

daydreamed about life

at an Ivy like Princeton,

and sometimes I’ve thought

about Ben.

It was life in a holding pattern,

circling around an airport

where you can’t yet land.

I glanced over to Jordan’s locker

and saw its pristine state.

No bright orange lipstick.

Was there even a male equivalent

to the word “whore”?

There were words,

but none that carried

the same weight.

Maybe I would have cried

if I were

a different girl.

But this was senior year,

and my life was more than

a series of letters

scrawled on a locker, vying

to break me.