Wherever Nina Lies [Hardcover]

Lynn Weingarten (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 1, 2009

KIRKUS called this heart-pounding YA mystery "gripping...Sibling loyalty, quirky characters, misplaced trust and the very questionable kindness of a stranger guarantee a riveting read."


Nina was beautiful, wild & adored by her younger sister, Ellie. But, one day, Nina disappeared. 2 years later, everyone has given up hope that Nina will return, but Ellie knows her sister is out there. If only Ellie had a clue where to look.Then she gets one, in the form of a mysterious drawing. Determined to find Nina, Ellie takes off on a crazy, sexy, cross-country road trip with the only person who believes she's got a chance - her hot, adventurous new crush. Along the way,Ellie finds a few things she wasn't planning on. Like love. Lies. And the most shocking thing of all: the truth.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 8 Up—Ellie's beloved, artistic, and wild older sister disappeared two years ago. By chance, Ellie finds one of Nina's drawings in a donation box at a thrift store, and with the help of her friend Amanda, who works there, she tracks down the guy who donated the box, leading her on a chase all over the country to find her missing sister. At a party in town, she meets Sean, a guy from a local prep school who thinks fate brought them together. His brother died a few years ago, and he'd do anything to get him back, so he relates to Ellie, and the next thing they know they're driving from their suburb in Illinois to Nebraska, Colorado, and California, following clues. An unbelievable plot—Ellie's mom doesn't care that her daughter is missing for days, Amanda lets her friend run off with a complete stranger, and Nina has made no effort to contact her family despite the ability to do so with the help of police and the Internet—combined with sloppy writing—makes this one hard to recommend, despite the intriguing premise. The story takes an abrupt turn toward a Lifetime movie when Ellie figures out that Sean murdered his brother, who was, in fact, Nina's boyfriend, and that he plans to murder both her and Nina. This road-trip novel pales in comparison to John Green's Paper Towns (Dutton, 2008).—Jennifer Barnes, Homewood Library, IL
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From Booklist

Ellie’s attempts to live a normal life since the disappearance of her beloved older sister, Nina, have been futile. Every time the 16-year-old manages to get it together, a new but ultimately worthless clue emerges, returning her to despair. Even her best friend, Amanda, is losing patience. So it is a relief that Sean enters Ellie’s life just as she discovers a drawing done by Nina with a phone number embedded in the design. Sean proposes a road trip to find Nina, and Ellie jumps at the chance in spite of having met him only days before. Murder, mystery, and romance all wrap into a road trip.Weingarten offers a fully dimensional story that even includes an occasional psychedelic tip of the hat to Francesca Lia Block. Readers will be jerked around from one clue to the next dead end, each time getting closer to the eerie truth. While the denouement is a bit too lengthy, this will be exciting recreational reading for teen mystery and romance fans. Grades 8-12. --Frances Bradburn

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 12 and up
  
• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: Point; 1 edition (February 1, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 054506631X
• ISBN-13: 978-0545066310
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.4 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (75 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,150,613 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

BOOK TRAILER for The Secret Sisterhood of Heartbreakers: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=53ZiHi5hskg

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Lynn Weingarten is a writer of YA books, eater of snacks, and friend of dogs. Hello! Her first young adult novel, Wherever Nina Lies (Scholastic Point, 2009) was named an ALA Top Ten Popular Paperback for Young Adults, a New York Public Library Book for the Teen Age, a YALSA Teen's Top Ten Nominee and has been published in German.

Her second book, The Secret Sisterhood of Heartbreakers was just released December 27th, 2011 and was listed as one of Kirkus Reviews Best Teen Books 2011.

Before writing full-time Lynn edited and developed young adult and middle grade fiction for Alloy Entertainment. She was born in Chicago, grew up in upstate New York, spent most of her adult years thus far in NYC and is currently spending some time in Scotland where she is very much enjoying the accents and the cookies.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Impressive Debut, September 20, 2008

By 

The Book Muncher (New York, NY) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Wherever Nina Lies (Hardcover)

(What's this?)

It's been two long years since Ellie's older sister Nina has disappeared. Pretty much everyone has given up any hope that Nina will return, but not Ellie. Ellie can't bear to think Nina, her sister whom she loves and idolizes, could be dead. Ellie desperately wants to find Nina, and when she stumbles upon a portrait of her, drawn by Nina, she's certain she's found her clue. With the help of a hot and mysterious stranger named Sean, Ellie sets off on a seemingly wild-goose chase for the whereabouts of her sister. But Ellie isn't prepared for what she learns along the way, regarding her sister and her new love interest Sean. In this suspenseful and fast-paced debut, readers will be swept along with Ellie as she journeys and finds love, lies, and the strength of sisterhood.

I was immensely impressed with this solid debut novel. Weingarten shows a mastery of her skill with words, especially when manipulating the plot. Ellie's cross-country escapade was filled with humor and lust yet also disappointment, anticipation for the next clue, confusion, and danger. I like how the story strings the reader along nicely and then twists nearly completely around. In the back of my mind, I think I expected part of the outcome of Ellie's journey, but I was still shocked when it actually happened. I also really liked the development of both Ellie's and Nina's characters. Ellie is easy to relate to, especially in her sisterly affection, friendship dilemmas, and thoughts of self-preservation, and this increases the reader's sympathy for her as well as interest in her story. The reader gets to know Nina mainly through Ellie's memories and thoughts of her sister, and it creates an image of a wild yet thoughtful girl anyone can love. Some of the minor details of this novel, though, were not as well executed as the plot and development of the major characters. There were some details that never completely added up. Also, Ellie's relationship with her best friend Amanda seemed strange at times, and their problems seemed to magically disappear at the end of the novel. Other than these few aspects, Wherever Nina Lies was an extremely well-written and enjoyable story.

Wherever Nina Lies is very impressive for a first novel, and I hope Weingarten plans to write more novels especially if they're as good as this one. Readers will see this novel as a hybrid between two fantastic novels, How to Be Bad and The Year My Sister Got Lucky, and will not be disappointed in this fantastic story of mystery, romance, suspense, and, most of all, sisterhood.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wacky and heartfelt and wonderfully entertaining, November 17, 2009

By 

The Compulsive Reader (Big Rapids, MI, USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Wherever Nina Lies (Hardcover)

In the two years since her older sister Nina disappeared, Ellie Wrigley has been plagued with unanswered questions: why would Nina leave? Where is she now? Is she even alive? Everyone has given up on Nina, but Ellie can't let go. So when she finds a drawing, obviously done by Nina, in a thrift store, she commences a crazy, quirky cross-country journey in pursuit of Nina, following the clues she left behind with a most amazing guy she barely knows. But as Ellie gets closer and closer to Nina, she'll find that the truth about her vanishing may be more astonishing than she ever imagined.

Lynn Weingarten has written a delightful, witty, zany, and heartfelt novel. Ellie is a very grounded and authentic character, and her pain at her sister's disappearance is very tangible. The book is peppered with clever clues that aren't too obvious and the book flows easily, bouncing around from one clue to the next, though it never feels like the story revolves around just those clues. Ellie's journey is about much more than just finding her sister: it's about love and grief and relationships and growing up as well. The mystery is solid and well devised and will keep you guessing up until the end, when a shocking twist is revealed that will make you want to reread the book to reexamine the clues and character motivations from an entirely new angle. Weingarten has a catchy, unforgettable style that varies easily from insightful and serious to wacky and hilarious and will make you laugh and think at the same time. Wherever Nina Lies is an entertaining and wonderfully written novel that will have you hooked right away.

7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Road Trip Full of Twists and Turns, October 5, 2008

By 

J. D. Fegler (Chesterfield, VA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Wherever Nina Lies (Hardcover)

(What's this?)

This book drew me in from the beginning. It put me right in the shoes of an older teenage girl, analyzing everything and plotting and planning, trying to make things work out the way I thought they should. Nina is Ellie's sister, and she has disappeared. Ellie finds a picture that Nina has drawn, and a clue to her possible whereabouts. Thus begins the search for the mysterious, dazzling, rapturous Nina, as seen through her younger sister's eyes.

I quickly found that once I embarked on Ellie's road trip, I would not be able to put the book down, just as Ellie was so determined to find Nina. The twists and turns throughout the book came at unexpected moments.

I gave it only 4 stars because as much as I did enjoy it, things seemed to come together a little too neatly. I'm not convinced that Ellie would have deciphered the clues as quickly as she did, with ne'er a misstep. Also, I felt I knew Nina, but Ellie, I didn't know quite so well.

This is appropriate for older teens, as the sexual scenes go well beyond experimentation.

All in all, I enjoyed the book. Lynn Weingarten captures the teenage soul and its passion.