Where It Began [Hardcover]

Ann Redisch Stampler (Author)

Book Description

Release date: March 6, 2012

A teen’s world comes crashing down in this compulsively readable YA debut that’s as literary as it is commercial.

Gabby Gardiner wakes up in a hospital bed looking like a cautionary ad for drunk driving—and without a single memory of the accident that landed her there. But what she can recall, in frank and sardonic detail, is the year leading up to the crash.

As Gabby describes her transformation from Invisible Girl to Trendy Girl Who Dates Billy Nash (aka Most Desirable Boy Ever), she is left wondering: Why is Billy suddenly distancing himself from her? What do her classmates know that Gabby does not? Who exactly was in the car that night? And why has Gabby been left to take the fall?

As she peels back the layers of her life, Gabby begins to realize that her climb up the status ladder has been as intoxicating as it has been morally complex...and that nothing about her life is what she has imagined it to be.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"A terrific read! Ann Stampler puts you in Gabby's head and keeps you there until the gripping conclusion. A writer to watch!"

--Alex Flinn, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Beastly

“Unputdownable!”

–Jenny Han, bestselling author of The Summer I Turned Pretty

"The relentlessly wry and sarcastic tone of this first-person yarn instantly grabs readers’ interest and propels the story forward. Stampler paints a ruthless portrait of wealthy Los Angeles, but she finds the occasional human being there too. Readers will find much cynicism but also humor and insight into a corrupt system not necessarily confined to the rich. Clever and constantly interesting, this is as much a winner as Gabby.” –Kirkus Reviews

"Gabby is a witty and sarcastic narrator, nailing the superficiality of her exclusive high school and wealthy friends... [Readers] will eagerly anticipate the accident’s entire truth revealed, especially through its surprising and gratifying ending." --VOYA

"Stampler’s story of a girl’s obsession with a guy at the expense of all else is powerful, and Gabby’s alcohol problem, her devotion to Billy, and her overall denial are entirely believable. Gabby’s sardonic voice will draw readers into the story immediately, as Stampler delivers a searing portrayal of power, privilege, and betrayal in the hills above Los Angeles." --Publishers Weekly

"Gabby’s voice is bitter and cynical, yet compelling and heartbreaking. [R]eaders will cheer for her when she finally recognizes her own worth." bookpage.com

About the Author

Ann Redisch Stampler makes her YA debut with Where It Began. She is the author of several picture books, including The Rooster Prince of Breslov, which have been an Aesop Accolade winner, Sydney Taylor notable books, a National Jewish Book Awards finalist and winner, and Bank Street Best Books of the Year. Ann lives in Los Angeles, California.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 384 pages
• Publisher: Simon Pulse (March 6, 2012)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1442423218
• ISBN-13: 978-1442423213
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.8 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (54 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #869,850 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Coming in 2013: A new contemporary novel from Simon Pulse and a picture book from Kar-Ben!

Please visit me at www.annstampler.com, and like www.facebook.com/whereitbegan!

READ THE FIRST 3 CHAPTERS OF WHERE IT BEGAN BY PASTING http://pages.simonandschuster.com/annstampler INTO YOUR BROWSER!

I'm Ann Stampler, a writer with a double life. By day, the reteller of classic folklore, but by night the creator of edgy YA. (OK, the day and night thing is not completely accurate, particularly since, with a deadline looming for my next YA, I am working on the novel day and night, but you get the general idea...)

The craziness of this split will be most evident in March, when "The Wooden Sword," a centuries-old folktale from Afghanistan, will be released six days before "Where It Began," a novel set on the very contemporary Westside of Los Angeles. Which opens with a girl lying in the wet grass, next to a car that's wrapped around a eucalyptus tree somewhere in Hidden Hills, without a single memory of how she got there.

About what happens next.

About secrets, and friendship, and mad love, and betrayal, and living through junior year at a school where survival was hard enough before. About moving forward when you want everything to stay the same.

And about the difference between what you know and what you think you know.

What do I know? That I love writing. That folk tales last forever because they're so good, and that with great simplicity and wisdom, the best ones map the human heart. That teenage is the best time to write about. That, as I've said elsewhere but I'll say it again, every age you've ever been is in there if you're open to it, and if you are open to it, you can go there and think and feel and write from that place.

That LA is cool and intense and weirdly manic and tragic and the perfect place to write from. That I love the hills. And that as much as I didn't do a whole lot of lunch before this, I'm definitely not going to be doing a whole lot of lunch after March 6th.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Where It Began by Ann Redisch Stampler March 7, 2012

By Amber @ Down The Rabbit Hole

Format:Hardcover

Where It Began weaves an emotional tale of healing wrapped in the pleasantly sarcastic voice of Gabby as she relives that last few months of her life leading up to the accident that put her in bed in the first place. Gabby's strong personality and sad home life made it easy to feel for her plight and the re-examination of the things she held dear is interesting as it is entwined with her new life after the accident. I really enjoyed the mixture of the two time lines.

Gabby's one of those girls that really doesn't see how special she is because no one else around her sees it. Her parents are too busy pretending to be rich to care and since she doesn't feel like she excels at anything, she doesn't have a lot of validation accept for when her mother gives her a make over that turns her into the girl her mother always wished she could be. Suddenly, Gabby is sky-rocketed to the new "it" girl and is on the arm of the hottest guy in school. Gabby's charm and whip sharp tongue color her voice as she tells her tale and make for quite a few laughable moments. Her sarcasm covers up for some of her deeper insecurities which changes depending on her mood at the time. Though I'm not sure I'd want her to be my friend, I did love hearing her uncensored thoughts about things.

The other characters were really wonderful too. Gabby's parents were deliciously evil as they flit around trying to figure how to go back to the way they were while still dealing with Gabby's slew of problems. Gabby's mother, in particular, was a wonderfully complex woman. Her simultaneous inner turmoil to fill her own needs while not thinking about anything else wars with her general want to be there for Gabby. And I really felt that her mother did want to help Gabby in her own way. Her dad played less of an active role. Gabby's friends were also great. I loved trying to separate who was really there for her and who wasn't. Huey and his mother were fun characters and I'd have liked to see more of them throughout the story. Even Billy and his mother made the story all the more full.

Being in this world of the uber rich just reminded me how lucky I really am not to have to deal with the superficial crap that so many people have to put up with. Ms Stampler did an excellent job creating a sufficating atmosphere for Gabby so we can see her fall and was masterful at adding in little hints for the reader to catch onto if they looked hard enough. My only two compliants are that sometimes Gabby would lose me in some of her sarcastic rants and I had a hard time figuring out what she was talking about. The other thing, for me, was that this story felt a little too long in the middle. I was happy Gabby had plenty of time to begin healing but I felt like she was stuck too long in the process of figuring out that she needed to heal.

The plot had plenty of surprises along the way to keep me interested. I was truly surprised what was confirmed in Part 2 (I'm not saying it because I don't want to ruin it for you guys!) and was interested to see how Gaby's future would turn out since all signs pointed (too neatly for my taste) to her being the drunk driver. The combination of heresy, dialog, text and ims were a great mix to tell the story in and I loved Gabby's eventual growth. Stampler was masterful at giving us just the right technique at the right time and letting to story form organically.

Where It Began starts at the ending of one thing and the beginning of something new and a whole lot scarier. Gabby is smashed into pieces so that she can rebuild herself if she can just find the energy and drive to do it right. Beautiful writing, complex characters and a heartbreaking situation make Where It Began a wonderful read perfect for all contemporary fans.

12 of 14 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars AMAZING!!! March 7, 2012

By Nikki Wang

Format:Hardcover

Orignally from Fiction Freak ([...])--
*Complimentary copy provided. This does NOT affect my review in any way.*

Yeah, basically. Anyways...this book is so similar to Stolen in so many ways, but so different in so many other ways. It warmed my heart. It broke my heart. It made me cry and made me smile. Gabby's the kind of girl who just wants the perfect, the safe, life to live. And so she becomes the picture of perfect and catches the eyes of Billy Nash. Or does she? Because when things are getting tough, when she can't remember anything about the accident that crashed Billy's car and took her memories, he's not there. And he only communicates with her through Instant Messaging. And in public? He's once again the boyfriend of the slu* of the school. But it's just an act, right? To protect her. That's what it is.

As much as I could connect with Gabby, I really didn't like her. She was blind in some situations, desperate in others, hostile when she shouldn't be, and consenting when she should've fought back. These were the things that stuck out, the things that I didn't like much. The things the irritate me. But then, how would you react if what happened to her happened to you? So I can't very well judge Gabby (especially since we were seeing things in her POV).

I can't say I was all-knowing when it came to the ending of the book, but I did suspect a few things. What actually happened though, shocked me out of my mind. It made me think. What happened in that book should never happen to anyone, but that stuff happens almost everyday without us knowing. It makes me think that sometimes the "perfect" life is the "fake" life, that there's not one single person who is perfect in all ways. But that's my philosophical side talking.

To be honest, it wasn't the summary that got my attention. It was the cover. I know, I know, we're not supposed to judge a book by its cover, but who hasn't? I entered the giveaway, not really expecting to win. But I DID!!! And I am so grateful that I did. So if you see this book in the bookstore and you don't think it sounds that great, read the first few pages, then judge. The blurbs don't always give you the full blow of a book.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Heart rending, shocking, and hilarious! August 24, 2012

By Nina A. Kidd

Format:Hardcover

I am not a YA aficionado, but following this child- sophisticate through adventures that should kill her, but somehow don't, made me alternately howl with laughter and whimper in dismay. How would she make it out? Why wasn't everyone else in jail? Amazed page by page, I had to read to the end.