Amelia Anne is Dead and Gone [Hardcover]

Kat Rosenfield (Author)

Book Description

Release date: July 5, 2012

An arresting un-coming-of-age story, from a breathtaking talent

Becca has always longed to break free from her small, backwater hometown. But the discovery of an unidentified dead girl on the side of a dirt road sends the town--and Becca--into a tailspin. Unable to make sense of the violence of the outside world creeping into her backyard, Becca finds herself retreating inward, paralyzed from moving forward for the first time in her life.

Short chapters detailing the last days of Amelia Anne Richardson's life are intercut with Becca's own summer as the parallel stories of two young women struggling with self-identity and relationships on the edge twist the reader closer and closer to the truth about Amelia's death.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Gr 10 Up-The book opens the night after graduation when 18-year-old salutatorian Becca finds herself tangled up in the legs and arms of her boyfriend James, a high school dropout, in the back of a pickup truck. The story is set in a quiet New England town where everyone knows everyone else's business. College-bound Becca is in love with James, who fears losing another person in his life as he did his mother, so after their sexual encounter, he dumps her, knowing that she is going on to bigger things and leaving him behind. The next day, news breaks that a dead girl, Amelia Anne, was found murdered near where Becca and James rendezvoused. The news of this murder causes Becca to question her faith in her small town and the outside world. She is not sure how she became so naive over the years and begins seeing people and places she has known her whole life in a new light. The gripping story goes back and forth between Becca's and Amelia's perspectives. Only readers know how much the two girls have in common, and they will relate to their struggles with finding themselves and their relationships with boys. The murder mystery unfolds with a dark twist that may need to come a bit quicker to keep all readers interested, but mature teens who enjoy relatable characters will stay tuned.-Karen Alexander, Lake Fenton High School, Linden, MIα(c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Review

"Amelia Anne Is Dead and Gone blends elegant writing and brutal behavior into a sharp and haunting novel." -Bookpage

"A perceptive, contrapuntal character study with a light thriller flavor—utterly compelling."

(Kirkus Reviews, starred review)

"Layered and exquisitely written...Actions have real consequences in Rosenfield’s novel, and her suffocating small town setting is powerfully and chillingly evoked."

(Publishers Weekly, starred review)

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 304 pages
• Publisher: Dutton Juvenile (July 5, 2012)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0525423893
• ISBN-13: 978-0525423898
• Product Dimensions: 5.8 x 1.1 x 8.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (30 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #663,909 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Haunting YA contemporary July 5, 2012

By Lynne Perednia VINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover

Becca has always known she isn't meant for her dump of a small town. The last year has been somewhat better because of time with her boyfriend, James, a dropout who grieves for his mother after he watched her die from cancer. On the night she graduates as salutatorian, they have sex in the back of his pickup out on the fields, under the stars. Then he dumps her. But James soon calls, unsure if they've broken up. He knows she's going to leave him at summer's end anyway but he is a lonely, James Dean-type. Maybe they need each other still.

That same night, their small town is rocked by the discovery of the body of a dead young woman out on the road near the site of where James parked his truck. And the real story of Amelia Anne is Dead and Gone unfolds.

In lyrical, layered writing, Kat Rosenfield writes about Becca's town, her home life, her relationship with James and how the investigation into how the mystery woman died plays out. The ramifications of assumptions and what people think they know about each other are devastating. Becca, in particular, shows both the benefits of knowing so many people in a small locale and the drawbacks to the same. Becca displays both perseverance and folly, wisdom and flightiness. In short chapters spaced out between Becca's story, the reader learns about the dead woman and what led to her death.

This is sophisticated writing replete with lyricism, layers and language. It is not, however, flowery. The first F bomb comes on page 7 in this realistic depiction of teens embarking on adulthood. Becca shares two bottles of wine with her unhappy mother one night and boozes it up the rest of the summer. For older teens and adults, this is a deeply affecting story told well.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A great book to savor and discuss July 24, 2012

By Teen Reads

Format:Hardcover

On graduation night, Becca's boyfriend, James, breaks up with her after a passionate encounter. At the same time, on a dusty road a few miles away, Amelia Anne Richardson is murdered. Rumors fly in the town about the unidentified dead girl found on the road. Amelia Anne's last days are shown to readers in powerful scenes in between snippets from Becca's last summer before college in this well-crafted story of love and loss.

There have been a couple of murders before in this small town, and the stories become even more exciting than the actual facts. But this time, no one seems to know anything about the dead girl. Becca is curious at first, but is consumed with feelings for James, and readers are taken back through their relationship. James is a high school dropout who lost his way after his mother died of cancer. Becca is the salutatorian who wants to get far away from the lake town well outside of Boston. She never expected to fall so hard for James, and while they both know it will be over when she leaves for college, she can't quite give him up yet. They agree to be together again for the summer, but both have jobs and time passes without seeing much of each other. Becca's family keeps reminding her that she will be going away while James will be staying. She knows the reality, but can't help feel the pull of the safe and familiar.

Becca is not happy about James' friend, Craig, who has come to town to be with his grandmother. After her death, he seems to just be staying at her house. It is a mess with a yard full of junk. Then the police pull Craig in for questioning after evidence shows that Amelia's killer walked a path onto Craig's property. He admits to Becca and James that he destroyed evidence. Other people in the town are questioned as well.... They are folks who are disliked, who have demonstrated against policies in the town, and everyone talks about how it is clear they were always bad news. But they are eventually released.

Amelia's story is revealed in between Becca's events. Amelia just graduated college, and learned at the end that she loves to act and wants to study theater further. Her boyfriend, Luke, does not understand how happy her new pursuit makes her. She hopes the two of them can find a way to be together during their planned post-graduation road trip, but as the days go on, she realizes that maybe it's time to move on from Luke. The tension between them increases as they pull into the town where he remembers vacationing as a child.

Becca continues to listen to the rumors about the murdered girl as she works at the café , a job she has held for a few years. Craig comes in and taunts her about James, and in a fit of temper, she lets loose her suspicions. The effect is like setting a match to tinder in a town that has grown very anxious about the unidentified girl.

Readers will sympathize with Amelia and Becca as the young women are pulled in painful directions with some surprising results. Deftly written, AMELIA ANNE IS DEAD AND GONE is a great book to savor and discuss.

Reviewed by Amy Alessio Read more ›

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Weird, atmospheric, gorgeously written, and mysterious August 3, 2012

By Hannah @ Paperback Treasures

Format:Hardcover

You can be sure you're reading a great book when you like what you're reading but know you'll enjoy it even more each time you re-read it. And that's what Amelia Anne Is Dead and Gone was like for me; the compelling mystery and the enthralling atmosphere kept me turning the pages this time, and the lush writing ensures that I'll go back to this novel time and time again.

The writing is what makes this book so special. Kat Rosenfield's style is gorgeous like you wouldn't believe. The keen attention to detail is simply stunning. She can spend an entire page describing one little, every-day type thing, but because of Kat Rosenfield's way with words, it doesn't get boring. The style is enchanting; you'll be hanging on her every word. I had to re-read so many paragraphs because I simply could not get over their beauty.

The small-town atmosphere is incredibly well-done. The town Amelia Anne Is Dead and Gone is set in feels like a character in and by itself, and I love when that happens. The descriptions of small-town life have a dark, mysteriously thrilling and eerily realistic feel to them; I was waiting for the town to come to life, somehow, throughout the book. All of it reminded me of Nova Ren Suma's Imaginary Girls - both books are eerily atmospheric and gorgeously written.

I love how mature everything in Amelia Anne Is Dead and Gone is. Becca just graduated high school, and Amelia just graduated from college. But even more than the characters' ages, something about the style is just very adult. The sex, the violence, the language and the whole story felt very explicit for YA. To be honest, I'm a little surprised this even got published as YA.... Not that any of this is a bad thing - I love anything that pushes the boundaries between Young Adult and adult, and it makes me happy this got published as YA, because the market does need it. Still, I'm surprised.

But even without the maturity, there is something undoubtedly weird about Amelia Anne Is Dead and Gone. The narrative took some getting used to - some of it is Becca's first-person narrative, while other parts use an omniscient narrator, transitioning seamlessly. Not to mention the way the story switches between Becca's and Amelia's. And the general weirdness about everything in this book. I loved how different and unique all of it is, but you definitely have to be in the right mood for this kind of thing, so I can see how it wouldn't work for some people.

I'm not sure what to make of the ending. While reading, I was a little disappointed, but the more I think about it, the more I understand its subtle brilliance. It's not the most shocking revelation to the mystery - the suspects are narrowed down to three pretty early on - but I love what this shows about the characters, how it stretches the boundaries, our good-and-evil way of thinking. I still think the ending should have incorporated some more of the smaller storylines, though - I kept waiting for some kind of connection between those and the main story, other than what they added to the atmosphere.

There's a quote from Ellen Hopkins on the back of the book that sums it up better than I could - she called it "lush, mysterious, utterly compelling." Those four words capture perfectly what Amelia Anne Is Dead and Gone is all about. The compellingly weird mystery, the eery atmosphere, and the stunningly gorgeous writing make this a book I know I won't soon forget. Read more ›