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Sara Ryan

Empress of the World Paperback – May 26, 2003

by Sara Ryan (Author)

136 ratings

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Nicola Lancaster is spending her summer at the Siegel Institute, a hothouse of smart, intense teenagers. She soon falls in with Katrina (Manic Computer Chick), Isaac (Nice-Guy-Despite-Himself), Kevin (Inarticulate Composer) . . . and Battle, a beautiful blond dancer. The two become friends--and then, startlingly, more than friends. What do you do when you think you're attracted to guys, and then you meet a girl who steals your heart? A trailblazing debut, reissued with an introduction by acclaimed author David Levithan, and copious back matter, including three graphic novel stories by Sara Ryan (and artists Steve Leiber, Dylan Meconis, and Natalie Nourigat) about the characters.

Print length

304 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Speak
Publication date

May 26, 2003
Grade level

9 and up
Reading age

14 years and up
Dimensions

8.2 x 5.5 x 0.9 inches
ISBN-10

0142500593
ISBN-13

978-0142500590
Lexile measure

HL740L
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"Both controversial and long-awaited, this helps to fill a need that is painfully obvious and introduces a wonderful new voice." -Kirkus Reviews

About the Author

Sara Ryan is a librarian as well as the author of the sequel to this book, The Rules for Hearts, and the upcoming Bad Houses, a graphic novel illustrated by Carla Speed McNeil. She lives in Portland, Oregon.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Speak; Reprint edition (May 26, 2003)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 304 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0142500593
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0142500590
Reading age ‏ : ‎ 14 years and up
Lexile measure ‏ : ‎ HL740L
Grade level ‏ : ‎ 9 and up
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 9.8 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 8.2 x 5.5 x 0.9 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #619,539 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #90 in Teen & Young Adult LGBTQ+ Issues
- #942 in Teen & Young Adult LGBTQ+ Fiction (Books)
- #3,200 in Teen & Young Adult Contemporary Romance

Customer Reviews:
136 ratings

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Sara Ryan

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Sara Ryan is the author of the novels The Rules for Hearts and Empress of the World, and of various comics and short stories on themes including but not limited to teen angst, Hellboy, joining the military, the 1962 escape from Alcatraz, and circuses. Her first graphic novel, Bad Houses, with art by Carla Speed McNeil, is forthcoming from Dark Horse Comics.

Customer reviews

5 star		47%
4 star		25%
3 star		11%
2 star		9%
1 star		8%

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Top reviews from the United States

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A. Craft

Formatting errors in the Kindle edition mar an important contribution to LGBT lit.

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on November 24, 2013

Verified Purchase

One of the defining books of my teenage years, Empress of the World will always hold a very special place in my heart. I realized with a start recently that while I still have my dog eared and beaten up hardcover copy on my shelves, I still hadn't purchased a digital copy! With a birthday giftcard I fixed that right away. Unfortunately I discovered an eBook that wasn't up to snuff, with myriad formatting issues and (worst of all) a lack of extra content as is promise by the cover. This doesn't have the promised forward by David Levithan, nor the additional comics that were included with the reprint of the physical book. It's the formatting issues that force me to take away one star - switching erratically between Nic's handwriting (often for strike throughs) and standard text was the biggest offense. I hope Penguin will take the time to correct these formatting errors soon!

One person found this helpful

Helpful

Amanda B

Great

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on August 15, 2019

Verified Purchase

I remember reading this when I was a young, young teenager just discovering that girls could love other girls. I remember crying at the end, moved to tears because finally there was a book for girls like me. Decades later, after listening to this again, I still remember how very Important this book was to me & why I loved it so much.

Helpful

Arturo

A great read. I have a hard time thinking of anything I didn't liked.

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on November 30, 2013

Verified Purchase

Good characters, witty dialogue, an endearing love story. Empress of the World is great. Ryan's prose is smooth and flawless, you get quickly immersed in Nicola's way of thinking and looking at the world, which is not something easy to do for any writer.
While it was evident the character of Battle was the intended "goal" of the story, I thought Nicola was a much more interesting person and puzzle. Perhaps that's just my personal taste, but it was her who made this book be so worthwhile.
It may not be a life-changer book, but it's definitely a highly recommendable one. The kind of read that will make you laugh, smile and get all mushy inside.

Helpful

Kaeya Humphries

It's a great book if you're looking for short and sweet about ...

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on August 31, 2014

Verified Purchase

The plot could use more exposition and detail, but the characters are accurate for the age they represent and the dialogue reflects that. The characters are all likeable, but there was room for development that wasn't expanded on. It's a great book if you're looking for short and sweet about two girls discovering themselves and each other.

Helpful

Renee I

young adult but sooo cute!

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on March 17, 2014

Verified Purchase

I think I thought this wasn't a teen novel but turns out it is. No matter! This is still a really cute summer romance camp story well told about two girl who meet and fall for Each other! I enjoyed reading a classic tale with a gay twist!

Helpful

TearinyCatala

wonderful book about a girl discovering her sexuality

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on December 17, 2012

Verified Purchase

This book has becoming one of my favorites in my collection since it really shows some of the inquiries that a girl goes through as she realizes her attraction to the same sex. The binding is very good and as long as you take care of your books it should last you a long time. I know several people whom have read this book and enjoyed it. It is a good book for teen to adult ages to read.

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on February 16, 2013

Verified Purchase

I enjoyed the book, but I just could not get into the characters that much. Not much background on the characters and really didn't know anything about them. I guess my expectations were really high after reading the reviews. Maybe if I read the sequel it will make this story a little better.

Helpful

Lady Lunestria

This was an amazing book. I don't think I've read a romance ...

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on April 23, 2015

Verified Purchase

This was an amazing book. I don't think I've read a romance book I've loved as much as this one. The "gay thing" wasn't even an issue here. It seemed perfectly natural. I loved Nic's Empress doll and her feelings toward her girlfriend and how she described her. This was just a beautiful book. I wish Nic and Battle's story was continued in Rules For Hearts.

One person found this helpful

Helpful

Top reviews from other countries

Michelle Cardozo

Brilliant cast of characters

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on February 29, 2012

Verified Purchase

Empress of the World by Sara Ryan was a bit different that I expected it to be. It was an interesting story and I really enjoyed getting to know this brilliant cast of characters, but sometimes I felt let down a bit by the structure of the novel between narrative and diary entries.

Our main character, Nicola, has been sent to a summer camp for gifted youth. She's interested in becoming an archaeologist and has signed up for classes at the Institute. On her first day, she meets a group of people that quickly become friends throughout this eventful summer.

We have Katrina, this wonderfully outgoing computer nerd, Isaac, the nice guy with a huge crush on Katrina, and of course, there's Battle. Battle who is this beautiful girl who is smart and cool and slightly mysterious. Nic finds herself immediately attracted to Battle, which begins Nicola's questions about herself and her sexuality as she examines her feelings for Battle and the people around her.

I really liked Nicola as a character and narrator. I thought Battle and Katrina and Isaac were all believeable and realistic characters. I could definitely relate to the feelings of first love as being confusing and overwhelming. I especially loved this thing between Nic and Battle. It was very sweet and beautiful as Nic and Battle spent more time together and Nic realised how much she was attracted to Battle physically but also towards her as a person and her personality. I loved the beauty of how this this relationship builds up.

My only issue with this as a story, is sometimes Nicola's diary entries that she writes as a way of making sense of the world in an archaologist's way really breaks the flow of the narrative. Especially after a really sweet and tender moment between Nic and Battle - going between that and a journal entry felt jarring. The diary entries left me feeling distanced from the story and towards the end, after a big conflict, I couldn't quite find myself again inside these character's heads and hearts. Still, the first half of the book more than made up for the second and I'm very glad that I read this book!

One person found this helpful

rebecca

... of the things she was saying about girls being pretty made me think she might need some support but ...

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on March 5, 2015

Verified Purchase

I bought this for my little sister (aged 14) as some of the things she was saying about girls being pretty made me think she might need some support but I didn't want to force anything out of her before she's ready. As a very clever girl too I thought other things in the book would resonate with her as well. Perfect to give as "part of a bunch of books I was done reading". As a pan 20 something I rather enjoyed it too.

Amazon Customer

enjoyable

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on October 20, 2013

Verified Purchase

The book was enjoyable enough, though I didn't feel compelled to keep reading. I was between 3/4 stars. It decided on 3 as I did, towards the end, care about the outcome for the characters. But it's just no where near as good as other books of a similar genre that I have read recently.

clare mcgrath

Fantastic

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on November 23, 2015

Verified Purchase

It was absolutely amazing. I couldn't put it down, fantastic