Everything Beautiful Is Not Ruined

by Danielle Younge-Ullman

Genres: Young Adult; YA Action & Adventure; YA Family

Synopsis

Like Wild for teens! In the tradition of Sara Zarr and A. S. King, a girl must survive an extreme wilderness experience to prove to her mother that she has the strength to pursue her dreams.


     When she was a little girl, Ingrid's entire world was her mother: Margot-Sophia, the brilliant and sophisticated opera star. So when Margot-Sophia loses her singing voice, Ingrid loses everything. The two of them move to a small, normal house in a normal town, where Ingrid tries to convince her mother that there must still be something worth living for. It's in this small, normal life that Ingrid discovers her own passion for the theater arts. But Margot-Sophia refuses to support her daughter's dreams. They strike a deal: if Ingrid makes it through a summer of an extreme wilderness experience, then she can have her chance to pursue life as a performer. Over the course of this summer, Ingrid is stripped of every dignity and freedom. But she also comes to terms with her inner demons -- and finally confronts the secret tragedy that defines her.

Release date: February 21, 2017

Publisher: Viking Books for Young Readers

Print pages: 368

Sample

It could have been that I was a child.

It could have been that I was biased because she was my mother.

Or it could have been that Margot-Sophia Lalonde was massive, larger-than-life, riveting, take-your-breath-away vivid, and astonishing.

In spite of all the years and everything since, I still think of her that way.