Rules for Hearts

by Sara Ryan

Genres: YA Social Themes; YA LGBT & Pride

Synopsis

Battle Hall Davies is sure of some things: She's going to Reed this fall; she loves girls; and her older brother, Nick, outshines her. He ran away four and a half years ago; now he's tracked her down, and she's spending the summer at Forest House, where he lives in Portland. It is a summer of surprises. Battle is swept into Forest House's community Shakespeare production, their all-night card games, and the arms of her new housemate, Meryl. As the weeks pass, Battle realizes that Nick isn't who she thought he was - and she isn't who she thought she was, either.

Release date: January 8, 2009

Publisher: Speak

Print pages: 224

Sample

Table of Contents

Title Page

Copyright Page

Dedication

 

ACT I - Are You Lost?

ACT II - Some Very Interesting Choices

ACT III - It ’s a Trick-Taking Game

ACT IV - Yeah, He’s a Runner

ACT V - I Got Lucky

 

Acknowledgements

BOOKS BY SARA RYAN

The Rules for Hearts
Me and Edith Head (with Steve Lieber)
Empress of the World

Author’s note: Some places that I’ve written about in this book are real, though I’ve changed details and added elements to suit my story. But Forest House and all its inhabitants are fictional.

 

 

 

VIKING

Published by Penguin Group

Penguin Group (USA) Inc., 345 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014, U.S.A.
Penguin Group (Canada), 90 Eglinton Avenue East, Suite 700, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M4P
2Y3 (a division of Pearson Penguin Canada Inc.)
Penguin Books Ltd, 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England
Penguin Ireland, 25 St Stephen’s Green, Dublin 2, Ireland
(a division of Penguin Books Ltd)
Penguin Group (Australia), 250 Camberwell Road, Camberwell, Victoria 3124, Australia (a
division of Pearson Australia Group Pty Ltd)
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New Delhi-110 017, India
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(a division of Pearson New Zealand Ltd)
Penguin Books (South Africa) (Pty) Ltd, 24 Sturdee Avenue, Rosebank, Johannesburg 2196,
South Africa

Penguin Books Ltd, Registered Offices: 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England
First published in 2007 by Viking, a member of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.

 

 

Copyright © Sara Ryan, 2007

All rights reserved

 

Lyrics quoted on page 122 are from “Palmcorder Yajna” by the Mountain Goats, C & P Cadmean Dawn [ASCAP], rights administered by Pacific Electric and used with permission of the artist.

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA IS AVAILABLE

eISBN : 978-1-101-01486-8

for U. C., with love

CAST,IN ORDER OF APPEARANCE

BATTLE HALL DAVIES, 18-year-old high school graduate, accepted to Reed College

 

NICHOLAS DAVIES, 22, Battle’s older brother, a cab driver, resident of Forest House

 

MERYL DAVENPORT, 22, swimming instructor, resident of Forest House

 

AURORA KNEEDLER, 46, owner of Forest House and artistic director of Theater Borealis

 

ROBERT CRACKNELL, 50, resident of Forest House, set designer and builder, Aurora’s partner

 

CHARLES FAHEY, 27, gardener, bike messenger, designer, resident of Forest House

 

HENRY O’BRIAN, 55, donor to and actor in Theater Borealis

 

DAMIAN J. WOLF, 28, actor in Theater Borealis

 

A NNALISA TANNAHILL, 34, actor in Theater Borealis

 

ELLERY TANNAHILL-LIPPMAN, 11, Annalisa’s daughter, actor in Theater Borealis

 

THE MINIONS, assorted genders, ages, Robert’s helpers in the Theater Borealis scene shop

 

LUCKY, 3, a dog

PROLOGUE

Church basement, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, almost five years ago